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In before the lock!

If you are just starting your adventure, I am going to catch you in my next set of updates. Also, I will get everybody else in my update group after this batch.

Mt. PelePele's TempleKing Ghidorah

You knew that facing down a type-disadvantage, especially one as serious as a Kingdra, was going to take some serious effort if you wanted to win. Going in the way of Byron, you think that a good offense is a good defense, and wearing out the Kingdra seems like a safe bet. Kingler crosses his claws together, and quite suddenly, he begins to glow a bright red color. The muscles under his exoskeleton begin to tense up and become hard, raising his defense. Kingdra sees this, and decides that his best bet would be....yeah, a physical dragon attack is still better at this point. But, Kingdra decides to boost up too, and spins around, causing a black and red electric cyclone around him, using the secret and ancient art of the DRAGON DANCE. He stops spinning, finding that his attack and speed stats have gone up somewhat. Throh still Bides his time in hisw aura, making sure that he will finally be able to deal some high damage to Kingdra.

Kingler then buffs up his other defense stat, making sure that he will not be able to take Kingdra's physical attacks, but also Kingdra's special attacks. Kingler goes through his memory and begins to forget things that are not of major concern, such as what he had for breakfast today and that doctor's appointment he had to go to tomorrow. After forgetting all of these superflous things that have no meaning or and value, casuing some extra mental padding room. Kingler feels that he is better able to take special attacks because of this. Kingdra doesn't attack again in this time, because he knows that his energy troubles are best solved as a one move thing, and not.....a three move thing. XD Kingler opens his larger claw, and breathes in through his mouth, before breathing out a cold wind through his claws at Kingdra, who grimaces at the coldness of it, but doesn't really take any adverse effects from it, thankfully having that speed boost from the Dragon Dance to counteract that speed drop from the Icy Wind. Throh is still biding his time over there, and hasn't taken anymore damage, and Kingler still looks pretty worn out, not having a chance to take a break. Kingdra is back in top form, with an attack boost to boot and will have the jump on Kingler next round.

What will you do?

The IslandShale BeachFood Guy

Despite your initial confusion about the whole situation, you find that a man grabs your arm and dargs you off towards the dressing building. Sheldon follows in haste, and you look at the man, who is dressed in a gray uniform with the same symbol on it. He has a grip of iron, and is easily able to drab you around, despite being such a small guy. When the both of you get in front of the building where you were going to be dressed, the man lets go, and you can finally see his face in its entirety. Nothing special. Gray eyes, with no facial hair. His hair was brown and in a crew cut. He looked like just a normal person, completely undistinguishable in a crowd. "Well, you sure have found yourself at the right place, let me tell you. This organization is at the cusp of scientific advancement, and you sir, are going to play a part in it." You still have one of those confused looks on your face, as you didn't even want to sign up for this. "Don't worry about now wanting to be here. I thought like that at first, but truly, it is not too bad. The pay is always nice, and, if you find an artefact, you can get some big bonuses. Just try it out, you might find that you will like it here after all." The man opens to door and shuts you inside, causing the lights in the building to turn on.

You find yourself in a warehouse, and another man walks you to a closet with the number 306, and took out a stamp and pressed it on the locker, with the words, 'IN USE." "Your outfit is in there. If you are not dressed in five minutes, you will not get your pay for the day. So, get dressed as soon as possible." You open the locker to find a uniform just like the others wore. It was a beige/gray shirt with a collar and long sleeves, and has the logo of the tower and the letters LS on it. The pants were khaki like pants, probably so that one could dig at a sight easier, again beige, but with no logo on it. There didn't seem to be anybody around, though, they would probably check up on you in a couple of minutes.

What will you do?

Mt. InfernusScenic WalkwayDark_Searchman

You were intent to get the surprise on your opponents, and when your Pokemon were ready, they charged, and you made yourself known to the vandal, who just looked at you and laughed. It was actually kinda creepy, because he looked like he was just skin and bones, and it was like looking at a phantom laugh. "If you think that I am going to be easily beaten by a little kid like you, you have something else coming! My Pokemon my be good at art, but they are also terrors on the battlefield!" Just then, you here a screech of pain, and look up onto the mountain, and see that Amethyst has the Dugtrio clamped firmly in her jaws, and that she has a good grip one of the moles. "Dugtrio, don't worry about a little snake! Scratch it off of you!" The two other moles move around Amethyst's head, and begin to furiously rake her head with their hidden claws that would normally be sued to dig through the ground. Amethyst hissed in pain before letting go, and tenderly addressed the wounds on her face. Dugtrio took this oppurtunity to DIG into the ground, causing him to dissapear from view. Sarkahn was charging at the Krokorok, who looked surprised to see such a huge hulking figure charging towards it, with a light blue ball of energy between its claws. "Alright Krokorok, don't think that you are going to be beaten by that oaf! Give it a taste of your Dark Pulse, and then Dig into the ground to escape!"

Krokorok faced down Sarkahn, and opened his mouth to show a spiraling cascade of dark energy inside, before launching the beam at Sarkahn. Sarkahn was too bust charging to make any attempt at charging, and takes the beam to the chest, causing his to grunt in pain. But, he does not actually flinch, and throws the ball of energy at Krokorok, who gets a shocked look on his face at the fact that Sarkahn didn't flinch, and takes the FOCUS BLAST to the gut, causing him to roar in pain from the attack. The vandal looks in shock that the attack worked, before he smirked as Krokorok dug into the ground, and stayed underground along with Dugtrio. With no targets to attack, both Amethyst and Sarkahn did not know what to do. "Do you see know? Did you really think that you were the first ones to try and stop the two of us!? Boy, you have just hit the surface! Now, it is time to go underground! Underground with the Revenant, carver of skulls!"

What will you do?

The IslandIgnatius RiverLASL

Deciding that an imprint in the grass was going to be a better lead that trail of candy wrappers, you follow the trail on the riverbank. The trail was pretty well dug in, which actually was kinda of odd. They were not very heavy, but, the grass probably was wet at some point. You follow the trail and find that....you were right back where you started in the first place, next to the lady who was looking for the Gulpin. "Oh, hello, is there anything new you could tell me?" There wasn't, but she looked at the trail you had followed and giggled a little bit. "Oh...yeah, I tried following that to, but it leads to nowhere. At least, nowhere where he could be. It just stops for no reason."
It was odd, but she wished you farewall and good luck in finding her Gulpin before you walk the trail back to the candy wrapper trail. Since it was your only lead, you decide to follow that lead as well.

You come to a stop next to a picnic blanket, and find an old man sitting there with a saxophone next to him. He looked up at you with eyes that were filled with compassion and knowledge that only old age could give you. "Are you looking for something little one? You sure do look like you are looking for something important." You tell him that you are looking for a lady's Gulpin who had run away from her for a unknown reason. "Well, little girl, I am not sure what a Gulpin is to be honest, I never traveled to the Hoenn region at all. But, I did see this odd Pokemon come by, and it was sure hungry. It was a green, blob like thing with a big yellow crest on it. Boy, did that thing eat. I have brought lunch and dinner for today, and it ate my entire lunch. But, I don't really care about that. I made the little tyke happy because of it, and that is all I need. I think he went into the river, probably to have some fun in the water. He probably went over the river to the otherside of the riverbank infact. Hope you find him!"

The constant heat seeping up through Cortoza's volcanic soil has given the island a distinct tropical feel, a vast and winding rainforest taking up a large percentage of the land's mass and surrounding each of Cortoza's mountains. The rainforest is humid and full of life, but also very dangerous. The ground is unstable in certain areas making hiking through the forest dangerous even for the most experienced of guides. Several patches of arid, rocky land dot the island, where no vegetation will grow, and it's there that some of the strongest and most fearsome Pokémon roam.

Areas:Shale Beach: Shale Beach stretches around the outskirts of the island itself. Its sand is gritty and black, not at all the postcard picture you want to be sending home

The trainer's feet landed on the shore with a soft thud. He was a young man, somewhere in his late teens or early twenties. Semi-long dark hair groomed back and eyes that matched his shade of hair. Next to him was the pokémon Ralts which had just disembarked the ship they were previously on. The trainer looked back at the old man who dropped him off on the island. He was an old, bald man with a small beard of white hair on his chin. A common characteristic amongst men who lived most of their lives at sea. The old man smiled at the trainer and waved. "Take care, you're dad would kill me if anything happened to you."

The trained simply smiled and waved back. "It'll be fine, it was my choice in the end anyway." Having said so, the trainer started moving towards the inner part of the island while the old man set sail again for the open sea.

The sailor was a friend of the trainer's dad and had offered to drop the trainer off on the island since it was on his route. The young man had always wanted to go on an adventure and see the world that was filled with interesting people and pokémon. When the opportunity arose, he accepted the man's request and prepared for this journey. Somehow, he was even able to obtain a pokédex. A device that was going to be prove invaluable on his journeys. The volcano island was relatively new to the world in that it hadn't been visited since a few decades ago. This made it all the more interesting to start the journey here. "A land left to still be fully explored," he thought to himself.

The young man stopped, took off his backpack and opened it. Though the island and the area around it was hot, on open sea, the air currents can give a cold breeze. The trainer took off his warm, black hoodie, placed it in the bag and took out his white shirt. The buttons were undone and after he had put it on, he didn't bother doing them up. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. The heat made this preferable. Not that it mattered to him, since he'd have done it anyway. He always did this, it was just one of the things that made him himself.

"Alright Rags, let's think where we have to go from here" he said while looking at the Ralts that was with him.

"Ru?" It would seem obvious by now that the two were partners, a trainer and his pokémon, but the trainer wasn't wearing any pokéballs on his belt or anywhere else.

"According to the map we saw at home, the resort should be that way," the trainer said pointing in front of him to his right. Though the two had decided what their plan was beforehand, they also prefer to double check. It was unnecessary, but it always reassured them that they weren't making a mistake.

Since both of them haven't been in the outside world before, they had decided to go to the resort since most people and friendly pokémon would be there. From there, they'd decide their next move. Though the trainer had already planned the next part out as well. "But first things first," he thought. "We'll avoid most of the wilderness for now and walk along the beach's coastline before walking straight through the wild towards the resort."

"Well Rags, time to get going. I certainly hope the rest of the Island is more impressive than this." He bent down, picked up some of the gritty black sand and poured it out again to show to his pokémon. The trainer looked back to the direction they would be going to and started moving. The Ralts walking next to him.

The trainer's name was Lucas and he was about to embark on an adventure that he had been waiting for a very long time.

If you are just starting your adventure, I am going to catch you in my next set of updates. Also, I will get everybody else in my update group after this batch.

Mt. InfernusScenic WalkwayDark_Searchman

You were intent to get the surprise on your opponents, and when your Pokemon were ready, they charged, and you made yourself known to the vandal, who just looked at you and laughed. It was actually kinda creepy, because he looked like he was just skin and bones, and it was like looking at a phantom laugh. "If you think that I am going to be easily beaten by a little kid like you, you have something else coming! My Pokemon may be good at art, but they are also terrors on the battlefield!" Just then, you here a screech of pain, and look up onto the mountain, and see that Amethyst has the Dugtrio clamped firmly in her jaws, and that she has a good grip one of the moles. "Dugtrio, don't worry about a little snake! Scratch it off of you!" The two other moles move around Amethyst's head, and begin to furiously rake her head with their hidden claws that would normally be used to dig through the ground. Amethyst hissed in pain before letting go, and tenderly addressed the wounds on her face. Dugtrio took this opportunity to DIG into the ground, causing him to disappear from view. Sarkahn was charging at the Krokorok, who looked surprised to see such a huge hulking figure charging towards it, with a light blue ball of energy between its claws. "Alright Krokorok, don't think that you are going to be beaten by that oaf! Give it a taste of your Dark Pulse, and then Dig into the ground to escape!"

Krokorok faced down Sarkahn, and opened his mouth to show a spiraling cascade of dark energy inside, before launching the beam at Sarkahn. Sarkahn was too bust charging to make any attempt at dodging, and takes the beam to the chest, causing his to grunt in pain. But, he does not actually flinch, and throws the ball of energy at Krokorok, who gets a shocked look on his face at the fact that Sarkahn didn't flinch, and takes the FOCUS BLAST to the gut, causing him to roar in pain from the attack. The vandal looks in shock that the attack worked, before he smirked as Krokorok dug into the ground, and stayed underground along with Dugtrio. With no targets to attack, both Amethyst and Sarkahn did not know what to do. "Do you see now? Did you really think that you were the first ones to try and stop the two of us!? Boy, you have just hit the surface! Now, it is time to go underground! Underground with the Revenant, carver of skulls!"

What will you do?

This guy not only looked creepy, he sounded creepy too. After letting out a raspy laugh that chilled Hyrem to the bone, he said, "If you think that I am going to be easily beaten by a little kid like you, you have something else coming! My Pokemon may be good at art, but they are also terrors on the battlefield!" A cry of pain interrupted him as Amethyst successfully got herself a mouthful of a Dugtrio head, something that would be nice and easy to swallow... if the other two heads weren't still able to defend the third. "Dugtrio, don't worry about a little snake! Scratch it off of you!" And that's what the other two heads did, causing Amethyst to let go and nurse the Scratches on her face. Then Dugtrio popped underground with Dig, and Amethyst pouted since she wouldn't be able to taste Dugtrio's energy.

Meanwhile, Sarkhan had a little bit more luck. As he was charging towards Krokorok, he Focused Fighting energy into a light-blue sphere, but the vandal was ready for him too: "Alright Krokorok, don't think that you are going to be beaten by that oaf! Give it a taste of your Dark Pulse, and then Dig into the ground to escape!" Krokorok then charges a spiral of Dark energy in his mouth before unleashing his breath weapon on Sarkhan. The darkness Pulses through the Druddigon's body, but it doesn't stop him! He was able to push his way through the pain and throw the sphere in his hand, feeling satisfied after it Blasted against Krokorok's chest and caused him to roar in pain. Krokorok still managed to Dig his way to safety, so Sarkhan couldn't attack again either.

Hyrem had underestimated this trainer's skills and the amount of energy his Ground-types had; this battle was only getting started! "Do you see now? Did you really think that you were the first ones to try and stop the two of us!? Boy, you have just hit the surface! Now, it is time to go underground! Underground with the Revenant, carver of skulls!" the vandal taunted.

Man, this is going to be tricky, Hyrem thought. This guy probably battles by having his Pokemon Dig all over the place, so their opponents won't know where they're coming from until it's too late. How do we fight against that? We can't just throw attacks down the tunnels, they'll just Dig around them... Hyrem didn't have too much of a plan at this point, so he needed to go with the best plan he could think of. "Okay you two, time to synch up and battle! Get behind each other and try to listen for any sign of where they're going to come up; maybe you can pick out their scent too! Also, keep in mind they could attack from underneath you, so be ready for that! Once you're sure of where they're going to be, wait for them to attack, then let 'em have it! Sarkhan, use Rock Tomb to keep them in place, then Dragon Rage while they're pinned! Amethyst, go with Giga Drain, then Aqua Tail for the type advantage!" The two reptiles nod in agreement, and prepare to guard themselves for what's to come...

Deciding that an imprint in the grass was going to be a better lead that trail of candy wrappers, you follow the trail on the riverbank. The trail was pretty well dug in, which actually was kinda of odd. They were not very heavy, but, the grass probably was wet at some point. You follow the trail and find that....you were right back where you started in the first place, next to the lady who was looking for the Gulpin. "Oh, hello, is there anything new you could tell me?" There wasn't, but she looked at the trail you had followed and giggled a little bit. "Oh...yeah, I tried following that to, but it leads to nowhere. At least, nowhere where he could be. It just stops for no reason."
It was odd, but she wished you farewall and good luck in finding her Gulpin before you walk the trail back to the candy wrapper trail. Since it was your only lead, you decide to follow that lead as well.

You come to a stop next to a picnic blanket, and find an old man sitting there with a saxophone next to him. He looked up at you with eyes that were filled with compassion and knowledge that only old age could give you. "Are you looking for something little one? You sure do look like you are looking for something important." You tell him that you are looking for a lady's Gulpin who had run away from her for a unknown reason. "Well, little girl, I am not sure what a Gulpin is to be honest, I never traveled to the Hoenn region at all. But, I did see this odd Pokemon come by, and it was sure hungry. It was a green, blob like thing with a big yellow crest on it. Boy, did that thing eat. I have brought lunch and dinner for today, and it ate my entire lunch. But, I don't really care about that. I made the little tyke happy because of it, and that is all I need. I think he went into the river, probably to have some fun in the water. He probably went over the river to the otherside of the riverbank infact. Hope you find him!"

Oh no.

What will you do?

Well that had been embarrassing. A trail to nowhere and she'd decided to follow it. At least the lady had been courteous enough about it, having fallen for it as well. Either way, El was more than happy to forget about that. Yes, no need to linger on it. At all.

El hurried back along towards the other path, no need to linger, she had a pokemon to find and she'd already spent quite some time catching her scyther. Heh, her scyther. So cool, as long as the boy didn't try to kill her when she used him next. That would be bad.

It didn't take long for El to reach the second trail that she'd previously dismissed. Her little netball skirt was surprisingly practical for running. She didn't stop to see if Turt or his mother were still around, that would mean admitting she was wrong and accepting the embarrassment. And no way was she going to do that. Besides, mama gardevoir seemed quite competent, it was unlikely they'd gotten into trouble again. Yup, no need to admit fault. Straight as an arrow towards the next goal.

She found a clue! Not much of a clue, but still a clue. An old man, so ancient and wise, claimed he had just been feeding a gulpin. Oh, happy days, her trial was almost over. She could get Vacuum back for Miranda and be back to where she was staying in time for dinner!

"I think he went into the river, probably to have some fun in the water. He probably went over the river to the otherside of the riverbank infact. Hope you find him!"

El's heart sank further and further as the old man finished. The river, of course. It was her own fault really, she'd chosen to come here and she knew the deities had a strange sense of humour. She hurriedly muttered a 'thank you', silently swearing that her next holiday would be in a desert. Faster and stiffer than trictly necesary, she jerked away to about two metres from the river bank. She could feel it starting, the oh-so-familiar panic attack. Her heart was racing, palms sweating and every last muscle trembling. Quick, think of something else! What did she have on hand that might be useful?

-1 (one) acrophobic spearow. Even if she wasn't acrophobic, she was only one foot tall and quite tired after her battle. No.
-1 (one) ferroseed. Maybe if she wanted to drown faster while bleeding. No.
-1 (one) unconscious possibly slightly murderous scyther. No.
-1 (one) purrloin. He's a cat. Cats aren't known for swimming. Maybe if she needed to steal Vacuum back from a bad guy.
-More pokeballs than she knew what to do with, some fancier than others. Even if she caught a water type, it would probably be too tired to help
-A number of berries, gummis a poffin and some seals. Bribing?
-Some trading cards. They'd only get kinda soggy.
-Some TMs. Nothing she has can learn them.
-Mystic Water. Last thing she needed was stronger water.
-Some other useless stuff like a flower and a White Flute. How that would help-- wait. No, no that was specifically wild pokemon it attracts, according to the manual. Darn.

Sighing, El resorted to plan Colm. Turning away from the river and squatting, she brought out what she thought was his pokeball and out came Spirit, still unconscious. Maybe those seals would be more useful than she thought. She returned the bug an sent out who she'd wanted to, a far more lively purrloin. He mewed and streched, looking around the strange new area.

"Hello Colm!"

"Mroww?" He walked up to El and leapt up onto her thighs.

"N-no! That's not what--" El looked at the kitten's tiny little face and her heart melted. "A-aww. But I need you to help me!"

"Prr?"

"I need something thak could help me get across this river, but I'm bad at looking. I need you help."

"Mrew!" The young kitty leapt off El and started to run off in a random direction. El dashed off after him, hoping desperately that his enthusiasm was a good sign.

Cid looks at you and gets a smile on his face after the look of actual hate that was on there when he was talking about the organization. It seems that he likes the fact of having a little bit of "borrowed muscle." "We would be glad to have you aboard. I don't think I caught your name, but I might have forgotten. With all the stuff that happens around here, I find it hard to remember not to come to work in my sleep clothes. This is a stressful job." He walks over to a section of beach that has been marked off with tape. A man walks up to him, with a beige hat that was like one you would see from an archeologist. "Well, well Cid. Who is the new recruit we have here today?" "You know, I kinda forgotten his name. You know how I can be at times." The man laughed heartily at this. Apparently, he is one of those people who can love a good laugh. "Oh trust me, with the amount of time the two of us have worked together, I would know personally that you can be a little forgetful when work starts to pile up. What exactly brought us here anyway?" "They found some artifacts here on the beach. Nothing particularly special, but this young man managed to find a second staff like the one we have at the museum." "He did really. This is a good find. Hopefully we can find other things on this beach." Cid looks at you, and says, "This is a good acquaintance of mine. His name is Manny. He has worked with me on the Lufenian project for over five years. He can get you started on the dig. I have to bring the staff back to the museum. I won't leave for a little bit, so, if you want to come, just say so. There should still be enough time to do the dig afterwards, depending on how long it takes." Cid leaves now, going to tent next to a Jeep.

"Well, kid. Like he said, my name is Manny. I have been working on this for so long I can barely remember a time where my mind has not been filled with the possible wonders the Lufenians had. If you want to be able to dig, you first need to get changed. Then, you need to get a few things from a man in the tent next to the dressing tent. You are going to need a shovel, a pickaxe, a hammer, and most importantly, a toothbrush. Once you have all these things, I want you to come back here. We think that over here might be a good place to dig."

What will you do?

By the way, changed all the pronouns, as my character's a girl. :P

Melissa smiled back indulgently as Cid welcomed her and went on to say that he might have forgotten her name due to his stressful job. She nodded in (what she hoped was) a sympathetic manner and then followed him over to a marked-off section of the beach, Imp floating excitedly beside her, where another man dressed like an archaeologist walked up to Cid.

"Well, well, Cid. Who is the new recruit we have here today?"

"You know, I kinda forgot her name. You know how I can be at times." The other man laughed at Cid's statement, while Melissa just watched the two patiently.

"Oh, trust me, with the amount of time the two of us have worked together, I would know personally that you can be a little forgetful when work starts to pile up. What exactly brought us here anyway?" She had to wonder at that statement. Had the dig team come out here for some other reason, just before Cid had found her with the staff? She exchanged an uneasy glance with Wildfire. Things weren't quite adding up, but she was now glad she hadn't just given out her name. Even if it might have just been her imagination.

"They found some artifacts here on the beach. Nothing particularly special, but this young lady managed to find a second staff like the one we have at the museum." And, yet, you couldn't wait to grab it, she thought to herself, finding that just a little bit odd. Imp was now floating back and forth in the direction of the tents, obviously impatient with the conversation. The little ghost wasn't one for sitting still.

"She did, really? This is a good find. Hopefully we can find some other things on this beach."

On that note, Cid and the other man seemed to finish their conversation, as Cid turned back to Melissa. "This is a good acquaintance of mine. His name is Manny. He has worked with me on the Lufenian project for over five years. He can get you started on the dig. I have to bring the staff back to the museum. I won't leave for a little bit, so, if you want to come, just say so. There should still be enough time to do the dig afterwards, depending on how long it takes." She assumed he meant how long the dig was going to take and not how long it would take to compare the two staffs. Either way, as Cid headed towards a tent sitting next to a Jeep, Melissa called out to him, "I'd like to go to the museum, too." She hoped he heard her, as she turned to face Manny.

"Well, kid. Like he said, my name is Manny. I have been working on this for so long I can barely remember a time where my mind has not been filled with the possible wonders the Lufenians had. If you want to be able to dig, you first need to get changed." Melissa frowned, wondering why her jeans wouldn't suffice, before shrugging. Manny should know better than her what sort of conditions a dig would have. "Then, you need to get a few things from a man in the tent next to the dressing tent. You are going to need a shovel, a pickaxe, a hammer, and, most importantly, a toothbrush." Melissa blinked blankly at him. A...toothbrush was the most important thing? Huh. "Once you have all these things, I want you to come back here. We think over here might be a good place to dig."

Melissa nodded her agreement, before going off to find the dressing tent. Once there, she searched for relatively clean clothes in her size and quickly changed into them, keeping an eye on the doorway the whole time even as Wildfire stood guard. After that, she folded her clothes and placed them into her knapsack, handing that off to Imp to watch over.

"How come I've gotta watch over this?" the Misdreavus whined, pouting over being given the responsibility.

"Because giving it to Wildfire would probably either end up having it drag along the ground or being caught on fire," she replied patiently. Wildfire looked sheepish as Melissa replaced him on her shoulder. "Besides, you're a much lower level than he is. If worst come to worst, I'd feel better if you didn't get caught up in any fighting yet."

"I'm a lot higher level than I was when we arrived," Imp grumbled, but carried the bag as they went to the man nearby to pick up a shovel, pickaxe, hammer, and toothbrush. They then returned to where they'd left Manny and Imp's mood picked up at the prospect of beginning the dig.

"We can start now, right, Mr. Manny?" she said excitedly once they were close by. "Right? Right? We got everything and she changed and we're back, so we can start, right?" She stared expectantly at the archaeologist, as Wildfire gave another sigh. He hoped the Misdreavus wasn't giving him and Melissa a bad impression with Manny. Melissa only watched Imp's actions with exasperation. She reminded the trainer of her little sister. Well, more like, her little sister on a sugar-high, but still.

The constant heat seeping up through Cortoza's volcanic soil has given the island a distinct tropical feel, a vast and winding rainforest taking up a large percentage of the land's mass and surrounding each of Cortoza's mountains. The rainforest is humid and full of life, but also very dangerous. The ground is unstable in certain areas making hiking through the forest dangerous even for the most experienced of guides. Several patches of arid, rocky land dot the island, where no vegetation will grow, and it's there that some of the strongest and most fearsome Pokémon roam.

Crystal Resort: A comfortable and modern resort built on the edge of Lake Tyr for the tourists who are now frequenting Cortoza.

After three years of studying Rowan has finally finished his study Business Economics. The ceremony was great, but the best part was that his parents were there to see him. But Rowan doesn't know what to do next now. He has thought about this moment for many hours, but now that the time is there he cannot make up his mind. His father wants him to join the family business, but deep in his heart Rowan wants to do what he wanted to do for a long, long time: go on a journey with his beloved Ralts.

It is early in the morning as Rowan decides to write a letter to his parents.

Dear father and mother

Thank you for everything you have done for me.
But I don't know what I want to do now just yet.
I need some time alone, I will take Ralts with me and go to Cortoza.
A vacation at a nice resort will do me good.

Love,
Rowan

"Come on Ralts, wake up," says Rowan to his sleeping Pokémon, "it's time to go, we're going on a vacation."

Ralts awakes at the voice of her trainer. She looks at him with sleepy eyes, wondering what's going on. But Rowan doesn't notice as he is too busy packing his stuff.

"So many things to do now, I have to pack my stuff, I have to get a ticket ready, or should we use my father's boat? Would he mind? No I don't think he will." Rowan keeps talking as Ralts get up slowly, still tired at this early hour of the day. "And there are also a lot of things I still need to buy, should I do that on my way to the port? No, I should do that at the resort, they do have shops there do they?"

An hour later Rowan is finished packing and takes his bag and goes on his way to the port, leaving the letter to his parents behind at the coffee table in the living room, followed closely by his Ralts.

It is only a couple of hours later, nearing noon, before Rowan and Ralts are at the nearest port to take the boat to Cortoza. They use the trip to play, meet people on board and prepare themselves for that what lies ahead. They enjoy their time and it doesn't take too long, only a couple of days, before they arrive at the island port from where they take a taxi to the Crystal Resort to check in.

"Well Ralts, it seems the vacation can start," says Rowan to his starter, who looks back at him with a loving smile, "we're here at the resort now, what to do next?"

Rowan looks down to his Ralts. "I can see you're tired, let me carry you," says Rowan as he picks her up, "Let's just see what there is to do around here," Rowan says, and so he start walking around the resort with Ralts in his arms.

While your Drilbur is concerned about the platform, he begrudgingly follows you onto the platform. As you step onto the highest part, right above the lake, you hear another voice in your head.

Lay onto the pedestal, little one. And all will be revealed to you.

This time, Guaca actually yells out to you and stands in your way, but again, the seductive power of the woman's voice pulls you forward, in a complete trance. Guaca actually has to move out of the way to prevent from being stepped on. You lay down onto the platform, and you suddenly come back your senses. But, you find that you are paralyzed all over. You can't move at all. Looking up, you see that the wind is blowing in front of you. It turns green in front of you, and takes the shape of a woman.

Well, you are about to do me a big favor. It has been sooooooo long since I have been able to do this.

Spoiler:- Potentially graphic:

Before you can ask what "this" is, the wind woman comes over you, and you suddenly find yourself in a whole hurricane of weird as hell ****. You feel some of the most amazing pleasure you have ever felt, like eating a million tacos at the same time, but at the same time, you feel something come into your mind, and completely overtake it.

Trust me, you will love this. I will be yours.....

Images of death and destruction fill your head. You see a solider being shot in the head and torso by a machine gun, and you feel his pain. Your mind try to recoil back, which causes the other presence to moan in pleasure.

Please, please do that again. Rock my world.

Another picture comes again of a man being tortured, a hot iron being pressed into his forehead. You can feel his pain, and it mixes with the pleasure from the woman and causes the oddest sensation you have ever felt.

Almost, almost. Just one more.

The next picture that comes to your head is easily the most terrifying. You are a person standing in a city, when a plane flies overhead. Something drops from the plane, and explodes. A massive rush of heat pours over your body, and you feel your flesh burn off of your body. It was the A-bomb that was dropped over Nagasaki. Suddenly, you hear one final moan, before nothing.

Guaca

The wind moves off of Rob's body, and you jump up on the pedestal to see how he is. You don't exactly trust Rob, but you don't want to see him hurt. Looking into his eyes, you see they are blank as a piece of paper. Looking above, you see the spirit. It hisses at you, not wanting you to disturb her prize. With a voice that stymied with hate, it yelled out, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! HE IS MINE!!!!" You were not going to let something horrible happen to Rob. That would be a bad thing to do, and you were not bad. You charge your claws up with purple energy, before slamming them into the rock, with the power of a GIGA IMPACT. Suddenly, the rock begins to crack and break, and suddenly, quake. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" The rock suddenly falls, and smashes into the lake. You grab on to Rob, and perform a RAPID SPIN, spinning around really fast, so that you could stay on the water's edge. Rob spins around fast to, but his weight it too much and he flies away, falling on the shore of the lake. You stop spinning and swim back to shore, and look at Rob. 'Oh no....what am I going to do now? There has to be something I can do to wake him up.' Suddenly, a path clears in front of you, as if of magic. You hear a voice inside of your head, saying:

I can bring you to where his soul is held. You can save him...if you want.

What will you do Guaca?

Lay onto the pedestal, little one. And all will be revealed to you. The voice invaded Rob's mind once again, and this time, the seductive voice put him in a trance that didn't look like it was going to break as easily. The trainer moved without being able to do anything about it, or feel it, with him ignoring the presence of his companion as he walked over to platform, laying down on it as he reached the middle. "What happened?" Rob thought to himself, "What's happenning, why can't I move?!?!?" Something was paralyzing his whole body, and it wasn't long until a wind started blowing him from above, turning green and taking the shape of a woman. Well, you are about to do me a big favor. It has been sooooooo long since I have been able to do this.

Rob felt completely confused, nothing like this had ever happened to him before, suddenly he felt something amazing, almost indescribable, as the wind woman was above him, before losing what little focus he had with an overpowering force taking over his mind, Trust me, you will love this. I will be yours...... Suddenly, horrible images filled Rob's head, of being a soldier being shot in the head and torso, "Ugh." Rob groaned, feeling the pain of the soldier, or was it him...? Trying to fight the presence with his own mind, it doesn't seem to be successful as Rob feels the other presence moan in pleasure. Please, please do that again. Rock my world. The next image seem to be almost as equally disturbing as the one right before, as Rob sees a man being tortured with a hot iron pressed against his face, and what's worse, he can feel the pain again! That is until the pain is mixed with the pleasure of the woman, which causes another sensation that Rob had never felt before. Almost, almost. Just one more. Rob then saw and felt the worst experience of them all, as a man stood in the middle of a city, just a bomb dropped over it, with the man's flesh melting off his body as the bomb's effect took place, after which he felt...nothing....

Guaca could only look as his trainer was covered by the wind, his face filled with worry until the wind moved away from Rob's body. Guaca quickly moves close to Rob, trying to look in his blank eyes. Guaca fiddled his claws nervously as he saw the spirit above him and his trainer, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! HE IS MINE!!!!" yelled the spirit. While he didn't know Rob for long, he couldn't let anything happen to him, deciding to use Giga Impact to shatter the rock, which he manages to do successfully as the rock shatter beneath him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" With the rock touching the lake now, Guaca used Rapid Spin to to stay on the water's edge, but it doesn't seem to work as Rob's body flies away, while Guaca swam to the shore, 'Oh no....what am I going to do now? There has to be something I can do to wake him up.' Guaca thought, as a path appeared in front of him, with a voice talking to him, I can bring you to where his soul is held. You can save him...if you want.

Guaca could only look at the path nervously, as it might be another trick. But no, he couldn't let his trainer go, even if they didn't spend that much time together. What little time he spent with Rob, he grew a certain fondness to him. Guaca nervously wrestled with the idea of doing this, but it look like he had no choice, he had to listen and follow the path if it meant saving his trainer. The timid, ground mole took a deep breath before deciding to follow the path to his trainer's soul was, or so he was told...

If there any mistakes, please feel free to let me know. If you guys respond quickly enough, I'll try to post another update before the end of October. Otherwise, monthly to bi-monthly updates from now on.

Lake Tyr

.oketim2:. - {Repost of your last update}

Signaling to the woman your need for air, you swim up and grab a quick breath before diving back down just as fast. The woman still remains in her previous spot, hovering over the Poké Ball. Her hair fans out around her face in the water, and you can’t help but think how beautiful this woman is. She points yet again at the Ball, but seems to be increasing in impatience with each second. You comply with her silent command and pull against the object stuck in the mud, bracing yourself against the edge of the trench for more support. Jitterz begins to float away as you concentrate on this task, but he quickly recovers himself by grabbing onto your shirt. Bubbles start to escape from your mouth as you heave against the Ball with all your might… Pop!

Suddenly the Poké Ball pops out of its resting place. Up close, you can see that chips and dents race all around the ball. Just what could have happened to it? Another question races through your mind, followed by another. How long has it been down here? Better yet, is there a Pokémon inside? Curiosity arisen, you gesture toward the surface, and begin to swim upwards. Being only about eight feet under, you and Jitterz breathe a sigh of relief a few seconds later as oxygen races into your lungs. The woman surfaces with you, beginning to swim towards the shore. Questions continue to arise within, but you can’t seem to get a clear grip on your thoughts. The entire situation’s just too confusing and strange.

The woman rises out of the water, climbing the embankment that leads onto land. Turning, she notices your look of confusion, pausing to look at the Poké Ball you still clutch in your hand. “Thank you, thank you so much.” She hesitates, then resumes speaking. “You see, I lost the item that you hold now long ago. I have so dearly missed the Pokémon that resides within it… Thank you for helping me, but now I must go…” Her voice trails off into nothingness, but curiosity still plagues you. The woman turns, beginning to walk away. You call out to her, but a wave of weariness suddenly engulfs your body. Your limbs feel sluggish and soft, your eyes slowly begin to close. The last thing you see is the retreating form of the woman, right before she vanishes into thin air! Your drowsy limbs refuse to obey your commands any longer; you collapse to the ground into a deep sleep.

---

“Hey, are you all right?”

Suddenly your eyes snap open to see a young boy looking down over you. Memories begin to swim to the surface of your mind: the lake, the Poké Ball, the woman. You sit up slowly, looking around for any signs her, but to no avail. Looking around, you see the old Poké Ball lying a few feet away. The boy offers you a hand, helping you stand up. You question the boy whether he saw any signs of the mysterious girl, but he shakes his head in denial. As he shakes his head, however, his eyes begin to grow wide.

“The woman… The woman of legend! You saw the ghost!” the boy shouts excitedly. “Tell me, what was she like?”

How will you respond?

"Ahhh, WERE AM I, WHO ARE YOU, WHERE IS SHE? ach" the questions flooded out of his mouth until he bit his tongue. "Yeah, I'm alright," Brier said to the boy as he liftted himself up. It wasn't until he move toward the boy that he remembered the Poké Ball in his hand. "Boy have you seen the woman around here, garbbed in black about this tall," raising his hand to be even with this shoulder.

“The woman… The woman of legend! You saw the ghost!” the boy shouts excitedly. “Tell me, what was she like?”

Brier shook his head, "It some what faint, but I'll say what I can. She was quite and calm, warmingly so. She had a way with pokemon, or at least my pokemon Jitterz. Wait! where is he?"

*poke* "Down herez~~". Jitterz popped out from in under Brier's shirt, "Though you needed refibrulatingz." *Zap*

"AHH, stop that! Okay now where was I? Oh the woman..." Brier said what he could recounting the dive, which brought back more detail of the woman like here auburn hair, the lack of sleep appearent on her face, but most of all the somber grey skin. "She told me thank you for retriving the Pokeball and how much the pokemon ment to her. I guess I should see If I can let it out, no telling how long it's been down there. Weather or not it works kid, please tell me about the woman's legend." Brier said activating the ball.

Despite your initial confusion about the whole situation, you find that a man grabs your arm and dargs you off towards the dressing building. Sheldon follows in haste, and you look at the man, who is dressed in a gray uniform with the same symbol on it. He has a grip of iron, and is easily able to drab you around, despite being such a small guy. When the both of you get in front of the building where you were going to be dressed, the man lets go, and you can finally see his face in its entirety. Nothing special. Gray eyes, with no facial hair. His hair was brown and in a crew cut. He looked like just a normal person, completely undistinguishable in a crowd. "Well, you sure have found yourself at the right place, let me tell you. This organization is at the cusp of scientific advancement, and you sir, are going to play a part in it." You still have one of those confused looks on your face, as you didn't even want to sign up for this. "Don't worry about now wanting to be here. I thought like that at first, but truly, it is not too bad. The pay is always nice, and, if you find an artefact, you can get some big bonuses. Just try it out, you might find that you will like it here after all." The man opens to door and shuts you inside, causing the lights in the building to turn on.

You find yourself in a warehouse, and another man walks you to a closet with the number 306, and took out a stamp and pressed it on the locker, with the words, 'IN USE." "Your outfit is in there. If you are not dressed in five minutes, you will not get your pay for the day. So, get dressed as soon as possible." You open the locker to find a uniform just like the others wore. It was a beige/gray shirt with a collar and long sleeves, and has the logo of the tower and the letters LS on it. The pants were khaki like pants, probably so that one could dig at a sight easier, again beige, but with no logo on it. There didn't seem to be anybody around, though, they would probably check up on you in a couple of minutes.

What will you do?

Karmas looked at the locker, still in a state of disbelief. What was going on? None of this was anything that he had signed up for, and he had no idea what on earth was actually happening, other than that whatever this organization was, they were on the cusp of a scientific achievement. Whoop de freaking doo! Still he thought that he should probably get changed into the clothes, that man sounded serious. Though to be honest, Karmas wasn't exactly worried about not getting paid. The trainer sheepishly glanced around the room, to make sure that there was no one there who could see him getting changed. He quickly tugged off his clothes, and pulled on the unfamiliar clothing.

Beside him, Sheldon watched in amazement, he had never seen what his owner looked like without his soft shell on. He looked really pale, maybe it had to do with that layer of blubber that Karmas had. Maybe it was there to make sure that he stayed nice and warm underneath his shell. Yeah that sounded about right. Karmas really was very thoughtful trainer, and Sheldon was more than convinced that he had a Tirtouga's heart.

Karmas looked over at Sheldon, slightly weirded out by the incredibly intense look that he had on his turtle face. He finished buttoning up the shirt and had a quick look over to make sure that he had put everything on properly. Satisfied that he did, Karmas stood there and realised that he didn't know if someone was going to come and collect him, or whether he just had to go outside.

You have for some reason come back to Cortoza Island again, despite your last time being hardly what one would consider a success. With you is your faithful Kabutops Shelly, who at the moment in enthralled with the mountain's natural beauty. And who wouldn't be? The mountain is tall and majestic, and covered in lush mountains where plants and animals live in harmony. It is truly a beautiful place, and the fact that you are not going to take it in is kind of sad really. But, you came here for one reason, and that ws to find the fabled Rock Pool, a place where it is said that ancient Pokemon dwell that is nigh impossible to find. You have your suspicions, but, you know in your gut it exists. All you have to do know is to find it. You turn to Shelly and ask her if she might have any idea where the cave might be, being an ancient Pokemon herself and all, but she can't remember even hearing about the place, let alone knowing where it is. After a quick sigh, you start to trek up one of the trails.

The jungle is lush at some parts and would be nigh impossible to travel through for most people, but you have the trusty scythes of your Kabutops to slice through the thickest brush. Shelly clears the path for you while you keep a mental track of where you are going, because if you are ever going to find your way back, you are going to need a good idea where the cave. Suddenly, Shelly stops, and turns around, She nods with her head to look over her, and what you see is startling. There is a massive barren section in the forest, with a sign right in the middle of it. You waste no time going over to reach the sign, which appears to be faded and worn out at a far distance. However, as you get closer to the sign, you see that it becomes newer and newer until it looks like it was just posted yesterday. Puzzled by the strange phenomenon, you look at the sign for clues on what it says.

In a cave far down
Lies a stone unturned
A color like a goose's gown
And a home that is undisturbed

It shows the tragedy of the island
In one simple look
Because something washed over the island
And left the stone in a live nook

Now it has grown big and round
For all those to gather around
In the humble flesh of a shell
It lives and grows each day.

It seems like some sort of riddle, but you aren't sure. You are not even sure how to answer the riddle, and Shelly offers no advice.

What will you do?

Thanks for agreeing on continuing my update. Sorry I hadn't done it, and honestly I had forgotten. =/ Unless you didn't and I misunderstood what you were saying........Please take me back.
Bill and his Kabutops continued through this forested area. Shelly would be able to chop through most of the obstacles ahead, which was certainly useful for the young trainer. Looking around for any sort of clue to this place would be like looking for a hay in a needlestack. Still the trainer held on the hope that maybe the next brush would reveal something, anything about this place, but the more they continued, the more hopeless this journey seemed. Still Bill kept a close eye on his surroundings, taking note of landmarks and whatnot in case they got discouraged enough to head back home. However, the last brush that Shelly cut, revealed something that was shocking to both the Pokemon and the trainer. A barren wasteland was the best thing that Bill could find that described this area. Albeit it wasn't exactly a large area, just an odd place where no plant life can be found at all.

"This reminds me more of those typical pictures of volcanoes," Bill said to Shelly. He turned back towards the lush area, then back to the wasteland. What was different about this area that caused no flora to grow? This was indeed a curious case, but not exactly a helpful clue to find the Rock Pool. It wasn't until a sign caught his attention. It looked old and rickety, though maybe just maybe it would say something like "Rock Pool this direction" or something. He approached it, and as he did, the sign seemed to restore itself. Odd, thought the trainer, but he just continued until he reached it. A riddle was portrayed on the sign itself. The trainer looked at the sign, making mental notes of the various lines. He turned to Shelly who was resting at the base of the sign. It was obvious she didn't care about this as much as Bill did. After some thinking, he said, "Sounds to me like it'd be a pearl of some sort." It was white like a goose's gown, it could be considered a stone, it was often found at the bottom of the ocean as "washed over the island" suggested, and Clamperl are known to have it, which could explain the bit with a shell.

But the answer alone might not be enough. He might actually have to find where this pearl might be, as it sounds like it's looking for a specific one rather than any old pearl Bill could've found on his adventures. "Well, it's not much of one, but this might be our first clue about the Rock Pool at any rate. Let's see if we can find a pearl or a white stone of some sort." Shelly got up from her position, nodded her head, and started walking in a random direction.

Cause its been a long long time.

Mt. CenizaGranite TunnelRakurai

Coming to the Granite Tunnel was really more of a whim for you that anything else, but the experience that you are bound to have is more than enough to warrant such a trip to the Tunnel. With you is Kiba, your faithful and loyal Elecktrike. He is quite attentive as you make the hike up, any noise or odd smell has him twitching both his ears and nose. When you get to the Granite Tunnel, you see a sign nearby the entrance.

WARNING!!!

Entering the Granite Tunnel is dangerous and may be hazardous to the lives of both you and your Pokemon! There have been reports of odd occurances in the Tunnel as of late, though we are unsure of what is truth and what is not. There have been reports of a pack of Joltik and Galvantula that are highly aggresive, and will attack on sight. They are rumored to be lead by a Galvantula that is covered in gold, but that is probably just unsubstantiated rumors that actual truth.

Trainers have been known to go missing inside of the cave, and it is very dark, so please be careful.

We are not liable for injuries that you might incur as a consequence of going inside of the cave.

-Cortoza Rangers

The sign sure creeps you out, but you go on, knowing that Kiba is with you, you are confident that he should be able to handle anything that comes your way. Wanting to get out of the stuffy and soot filled air, you turn on your flashlight, and walk into the tunnel.

Immediately you notice how dark the tunnel truly is. Within fifteen feet of going into the tunnel, you find it hard to see around you. It was suffocatingly dark inside, with only your flashlight as a guide into the dark labyrinth that lay ahead of you. You walk slowly and carefully, while Kiba sniffs the air and raises his ears into the air as he tries to catch any movement in the tunnel. As you walk, your foot hits something on the ground. Despite it feeling somewhat small, it is heavy and dense, and you draw your foot back in pain. It was like you kicked a large chunk of iron. you move the flashlight down onto where you kicked your foot and see that there is a small body there. It is pretty round, with four stubby legs, and one pretty large and round head. Its dark gray body is covered in steel armor that has a large spike on its back. Its eyes are a pale blue color, and there are small openings all over its body, noticeably the largest ones being where the eyes are. There is not mistaking the Pokemon that stands in front of you, it is an Aron.

The little Aron seems to be a little upset about being kicked so rudely, but is more curious on what you and your little Kiba are. The Aron has never seen a human before, none the less an Electrike. It runs up to you, and headbutts your leg, causing you to fall over. Kiba growls at the Aron for knocking you down, and it does seems upset now. It begins to cry, and runs away from you, wanting to be nowhere near that mean old Kiba. Who knows what could happen to the little guys if he is left alone in the darkness?

What will you do?

Mt. InfernusThe Rock PoolTreepandaone

The Alakazam looks at you as you pick your Anorith to go into the Rock Pool, after you give the benefit of some Leftovers, but he has a puzzled look on his face. "I am quite intriqued that you would bring a Pokemon so young and inexperienced into the trial. But, for you to pick this Anorith, you must have a good reason for this. Your Anorith must be very brave to take on this challenge." The Alakazam finishes up, and takes your Pokebelt from you, and places it inside of a small container. It looks like a metal box with carved circles in it. The Alakazam raises his spoons into the air, as a faint blue outline surrounds him. This is a sign that the Alakazam was using its psychic powers in some way. The box gains a blue outline as well, and begins to spin around rapidly, the blue going from a blue outline to a bright blue shape. Then, the box dissapears, like it was never really there in the first place.

"Don't worry about that. Your Pokemon are safe and sound. I merely teleported them to the end of the trial. Once you complete the trial, you will be able to grab your Pokemon yet again." The Alakazam sits down again, and takes a deep breath in. It seems that such a feat took a lot out of him. "It has been a long time since I did that. I am not the spring chicken I was before." He gets back up, and stands in front of the door. Again, a blue aura of energy surrounds him, but this time, you do not see that anything is happening. "This door seems to be unopenable from the outside...however, it actually can only be opened from the inside. Inside the door. It is a verrrry...." Alakazam groans all of a sudden. "A very complicated lock, that requires that I unlock it with psychic powers." Alakazam begins to pant now. You hear the door starting to make noises. Clinks and clunks and clanks. It sounded like a network of gears. Then, you can see the door gain a light blue outline, but not nearly as bright as the aura around Alakazam. "Urgghhh....it is most difficult to open this door. It was meant to be like this though...to keep people from forcing their way in......" The door makes a resounding CLANK, and then slowly begins to open up. The Alakazam drops its spoons on the ground, both of them being bent nearly completely in half. He manages to float over to his sitting spot before falling onto the ground. He looked exhausted. "Don't worry about me. I will be fine. A couple of puffs and I will be back to normal. Enter young trainer, enter, and see if you are worthy of entering the Rock Pool.

The trail contains a series of puzzles and riddles, along with four challenges that you will have to conquer. If you complete the trial, you will be able to enter the Rock Pool and potentially be able to capture a very rare Pokemon. If you fail, however, you will be given a consolation reward. If you back out of a challenge, you will have a better consolation prize.

Looking into the hallway, you see that it is lit somewhat, but the lights are spaced far away...this definetely has a purpose, and some sections of the hallway are still pitchblack. You can here the sounds of water coming out of a faucet or a fountain.

Will you walk into the hallway?

The IslandGarland BasinSon_of_Shadows

Kirsten looks at you, and sees what you are saying. She sits down again, and looks on the ground. "See, this herb is grown in the village. The drug that your Steven was given is used to subdue dangerous people...or Pokemon. The drug you were given made it so you were easier to kidnap. But, they did not want Steven firing off strong attacks at them. This herb is the cure...but..." She begins to cry now. "It-it is a seriously cruel drug. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't make you sick.....*sob*....but it cures by....killing your willpower." She breaks into serious sobs now, and you can only put two and two together to figure out what had happened. "It is alright when people give it to Pokemon! They just become mindless! But when they give it to a person...when they give it to a young girl....." Her crying interrupts again, and you put an arm around her, as anyone would. She begins to calm down some after that. "When your mother lives only to please, because she is so freaking brainwashed, **** happens. **** happens."

She gets up now, and picks up the cloth, wrapping it around her hands again, and slams her fist into the ground. The truth was evident. She had more reason not to like this place after all, more reason than you could ever known. "Alright. This herb is grown in the village, but it guarded heavily. For obvious reasons. And not the ones that could have protected me. It grows out into the forest. We would have to get into the forest to get some of the herb. Just be warned though. Steven will lose all of his will when he eats this herb. This will clear his head, but if we are followed by someone, we are done for. They could command your Munna as if it was their own. Plus, while he will breathe on his own, he won't drink, and he won't eat. He has to be ordered to. You are going to need to be attentive to him." She stops speaking, taking the cloth off of her hands. You could see that most of the cloth was clean. There were some circles of blood, from when she decided to pound her fists into the ground, but there was also lines of blood. Lines. They were concentrated in one spot though.

"About your stuff....I am not sure what to do. You would probably have to find someone to come back here with. My Horus is not strong enough to help you..especially...never mind. I am sure we could find someone if needed. Alright, is there anything you want to do before we break out? Look around maybe? Getting the lay of the land would be a good idea."

What will you do?

Mt. SenicaCinder VillageCoolz8

Blaze looked at you, and grinned. "Yeah, I have heard of Homestuck. I used to read quite a bit of it, got a ways in. But, unfortunately, I simply don't have the time to read it anymore. Taking care of my Pokemon is hard work, let me tell you. If I have time to relax, I prefer to play video games myself. That is one thing that Coffin does well. He can hold two different controllers in his four hands....and I think that is cheating, but I let him do it anyways. "COFA!" "Hey, just saying, no need to get all hissy."

August chuckled to himself as he heard this. "I remember my first Pokemon. This Golurk right here. He was a Golett then. I was the first one with a Golett in all of Cortoza. It was quite a spectacle. People would come all over to see it. We used to play games as a kid. Nowadays, we both are grown up. We have more responsiblities now." You find yourself looking at a path in the forest. You can see why it is a secret. The path is barely visible from the outside, blocked by a power generator, and it barely visible itself. You might walk by it several times without ever knowing it was there. It was certainly a difficult place to find.

Just then, August's Xtransciever begins to ring. "Hold on one second guys, I need to take this." He picks up the Xtransceiver, and begins to talk to the person on the otherside. "Hello?.....Yes, I am here.....Not again.....Is anyone hurt??? Are you sure about that? Yes, I'll will be right over to help out." August hangs up his Xtransceiver and looks at you. "We had a collaspe in one of the caves on the other side of the mountain. Don't you two worry about it, I can handle this on my own. Come on Golurk." August hops onto Golurk, and the Golurk's legs contract into its body before two blasts of fire come out, lifting both the Golurk and August into the air.

Blaze looks at you, and says, "Yeah, we shouldn't worry about i. August has been helping out the community and the island for as long as I could think of. He is really experienced in this kind of stuff. We should head up to the hot springs. Come on! Who knows what we will find?"

What will you do?

Mt. InfernusMountain PeakMarbleZone

Dolce

You find yourself in between a giant metal bird, and a hard place. There was not much more you could do. Soon, the Skarmory would have you, and it would be over. Just when all your hope seems to be lost, you hear something from the ground. ""Dolce, come back! Lure him to me, fly down as fast as you can!" It is none other than your trainer! Levin! 'Yay it's Levin I can't believe it is Levin he will save me!' You immediately take his advice, and flap your wings closer together, going into a free fall. While this makes you evade the Skarmory's notice temporarily, the Skarmory is quick on his wings, and does the same thing, going into a freefall. However, when an event like this happens, weight does not matter all too much, and you are able to maintain a slight lead over the Skarmory that is chasing you. You fall closer and closer to the ground, trying ever so carefully not to land in a tree or something and land into the clearing, because otherwise you really were going to be this Skarmory's dinner. When you get close to the ground, safely in the clearing, you flap your wings and redirect your course to make a beeline for Levin, but the Skarmory is one up on you, and grabs your wings, pinning you to the ground. The Skarmory caws as it gloats over its dinner, and while you struggle to get free, it is to no avail. The Skarmory has you trapped. It is over.

Levin, Hebi, Dolce, Opal

Or so it seemed. Because while you watched as Dolce got pinned by the Skarmory, Hebi for once got into action and breathed out a massive pillar of flames at Skarmory. It cawed for a moment before flying off of Dolce, looking at both you and the Dunsparce. It was probably trying to size up the situation at hand, and in the end, decides that the Swablu simply is not worth it in the long run, and flies off, cawing as it is a little grumpy for having its mealtime interrupted. Dolce flies over to you and cradles into your arms, happy to be back with you and obviously not dinner for today. Opal hops up and down at the sight of her friend being safe and sound, and the three of you are reuinted. Dolce relays to you what she saw, including the massive remains of a Draco Metoer, but unfortunately you find that she had nothing that would help you in your search of Min. Where could she be? And what was able to take her, being as powerful as she was? Nothing seemed to add up.....

What will you do?

The IslandShale BeachEx-Admiral Insane

Your first adventure. It is truly a magnificent wonder to have your first Pokemon adventure, and few ever get the chance to have one that is magnificent. Indeed, a magnificent magnificent adventure may just be on the horizon for you!

Anyways, as you and your Ralts walk down the Shale Beach, you notice many things about it in your eagerness. The first is the unique color of the sand. It was not your normal white or even pinkish sand that you might see on a picturesque resort, but a gritty black color. But, it was pretty in its own way, as beaches like this only come from certain kinds of rock. The second thing that you notice...hey wait, what is that weird purple rock jutting out in the sand? You run over to it, looking over it carefully. It did not seem to be a rock at all, but some sort of purple sphere that had a wavy texture that seemed like the ripples of the ocean waves. You touch the sphere, and it is smooth to the touch. There is no feeling of grainy or roughness on it. It was perfectly smooth. And, to your amazement, the sphere begins to open up, revealing something inside of it. The inside was covered in a light blue flesh that was moist and squishy looking. Odd enough it was moist, considering it was probably stranded here for quite some time and would not have had access to the ocean waters either. Inside of the light blue flesh was a large sphere, think, a sphere in a sphere. Sphereception This sphere was an orange color, well more of a light orange color if anything, and had a face on it that seemed to be reserved or quitely content. It looks at you, and says, "Clamperl???" It seems that this is the Bivalva Pokemon Clamperl, and it is kinda friendly. Rags goes to touch the pearl, showing the same curiousity that you do, but the Clamperl gets startled at this and performs a crushing CLAMP on Ralts' hand, slamming its shell shut on the Ralts.

At this point, Ralts starts going a little nuts, trying to pull its hand outside of the shell and kepp itself safe, but the strength of the Clamperl is too much for Ralts, and it cannot get its hand out of the shell. You can see the fear on the face of your Ralts, as it tries to get free. the Clamperl seems to have paid no attention to the Ralts. You wonder if it even knew that the Ralts hand was inside of its shell?! You need to think of something fast, for your Ralts.

You walk into the tunnel with your Shuppet, who interestingly enough has not been named yet. Walking down the tunnel, you see that the light becomes dimmer and dimmer and dimmer before finally the light goes dark. You stand in one place before your eyesight gets used to the dark surroundings, before looking at your Shuppet, who can easily see in the surroundings. You pull a small flashlight out of your sack, and shine it, it lighting up a wall. And what you see is amazing. Deep, interlocked into the stone, is a vein of pure gold. Most gold is pure anyways, because of its chemical inertness. You move closer to it, the metal being very shiny and casting a little light behind you. You move the flashlight around, and see something the more interesting. The walls all have gold inside of them. You might have went somewhere you weren't supposed to. I mean, if there was all this gold here, why didn't somebody mine it all for the money? Looking back on the wall, you see something on the wall that was not there before.

You something really small, not even 10 cm long. It looks at you with little blue eyes, before jittering around, and jumping onto your shirt. It was a Joltik, and it seems to have taken a liking to you. You look at it and it squeaks at you, before jumping off of your shirt and running off deeper into the cave. Apparently, it wants to play with it. Maybe a game of hide and go seek, or a game of tag? Who knows if a Joltik knew about such things, but it was certainly adorable. Shuppet appears to want to play as well, squeaking itself before flying off into the darkness.

Going into the tunnel, Kairne still felt quite awkward, uneasy and uncomfortable in such unwieldy, bulky boots. It grew darker the deeper he went, as was natural, but instead of being confident in the dark as he normally was, he was apprehensive, feeling blind without the wealth of sensory information his feet would have no doubt blessed him with. With bare feet, he would have been most comfortable with the darkness, knowing that anything that could see him, he'd sense first, but with these boots blocking his earth connection, he felt like a sitting duck just waiting for danger to come along; all his senses seemed duller without the extra sensory input his feet would normally grant. Despite this, he knew to soldier on, resolving to himself, The sooner I get through this tunnel, the sooner I can get these damned things off, for good. He cursed the Rangers' overly-restrictive policies to himself, with half a mind to tear the boots off himself, right then, but resigned himself against it. He had given his word, after all.

In the inky blackness of the tunnel, Kairne did his best to keep his eyes on his little gal; she could, after all, see perfectly, Ghost-type that she was. As it got too dark to even make her shape out properly, Kairne, not wanting to take his chances, pulled an electric torch from his pack and flipped it on, to see the pathway much better. Quite fortunate this was, too, as he was about to step unwittingly right into a stone wall. Breathing a sigh of relief at his good fortune, it took him a second to notice something that looked a bit luminescent where his torch was shining. This caught his eye, and, upon closer inspection, he saw that no, it was not luminescent, but instead just had a shiny luster. Looking at the substance, he thought for a second, seeing the way it shimmered in thee light, and decided it must either be a vein of gold, or some type of pyrite. Either way, this may have been a path he was not supposed to take, although he couldn't recall seeing any signs restricting access from normal travelers. Kairne was thinking of chipping a few flakes, to analyse them at a later point, when he turned and caught a hint of movement. Turning towards this movement, he found a small yellow creature with small blue eyes, who jumped at him unexpectedly, running a bit around his shirt and squeaking. Before Kairne could fully comprehend just how odd this was, the small creature jumped off his shirt and flitted off, deeper into the cave, playfully. To add to the overwhelming strangeness, before he could turn to his Shuppet for confirmation about whatever the hell had just happened, she, too, let out a squeak and hovered off, giving chase. Kairne shrugged, having no other option but to follow. Stumbling a little at first, Kairne picked up enough of a pace to keep Shuppet in his sights, once again cursing the local Rangers.

Your first adventure. It is truly a magnificent wonder to have your first Pokemon adventure, and few ever get the chance to have one that is magnificent. Indeed, a magnificent magnificent adventure may just be on the horizon for you!

Anyways, as you and your Ralts walk down the Shale Beach, you notice many things about it in your eagerness. The first is the unique color of the sand. It was not your normal white or even pinkish sand that you might see on a picturesque resort, but a gritty black color. But, it was pretty in its own way, as beaches like this only come from certain kinds of rock. The second thing that you notice...hey wait, what is that weird purple rock jutting out in the sand? You run over to it, looking over it carefully. It did not seem to be a rock at all, but some sort of purple sphere that had a wavy texture that seemed like the ripples of the ocean waves. You touch the sphere, and it is smooth to the touch. There is no feeling of grainy or roughness on it. It was perfectly smooth. And, to your amazement, the sphere begins to open up, revealing something inside of it. The inside was covered in a light blue flesh that was moist and squishy looking. Odd enough it was moist, considering it was probably stranded here for quite some time and would not have had access to the ocean waters either. Inside of the light blue flesh was a large sphere, think, a sphere in a sphere. Sphereception This sphere was an orange color, well more of a light orange color if anything, and had a face on it that seemed to be reserved or quitely content. It looks at you, and says, "Clamperl???" It seems that this is the Bivalva Pokemon Clamperl, and it is kinda friendly. Rags goes to touch the pearl, showing the same curiousity that you do, but the Clamperl gets startled at this and performs a crushing CLAMP on Ralts' hand, slamming its shell shut on the Ralts.

At this point, Ralts starts going a little nuts, trying to pull its hand outside of the shell and kepp itself safe, but the strength of the Clamperl is too much for Ralts, and it cannot get its hand out of the shell. You can see the fear on the face of your Ralts, as it tries to get free. the Clamperl seems to have paid no attention to the Ralts. You wonder if it even knew that the Ralts hand was inside of its shell?! You need to think of something fast, for your Ralts.

What will you do?

"What's this?" Lucas asked, jabbing the odd purple sphere that was obviously out of place. "A washed up jellyfish?"
"Ru," the Ralts replied. Interested in the interesting object of interest. It was nearing it as well, wanting to touch it.
The sphere felt smooth like a jellyfish, but it was hard and not, so to say, squishy.
Before Rags could even touch it, it opened up.
Still thinking it might have been a jellyfish, the trainer held in a scream when he saw it. In his mind, a jellyfish opening up made him think of an alien spacecraft.
He was relieved when there was no such alien inside the spacecraft but another smaller sphere. This one was orange and had a face on it that seemed happy.
"Clamperl?" it said.
"Look Rags, it's a pokémon!"
"Ru." The little Ralts was enthusiastic about meeting a wild pokémon. (Or at least happy about meeting one that didn't seem to want to hurt them.) He reached out for the Clamperl wanting to greet it and feel what's it insides are like.

Lucas on the other hand was lost in thought. There's something odd about this Clamperl. Is it bigger? Nah. It is out of place. I could swear that there usually found on the Ocean Floor though.

"RAL!"
Lucas was snapped out of his concentration and looked at how the two pokémon were doing. He was shocked to see that Ralts was squirming to get his hand out of the, now shut, Clamperl.
Rags must have startled the clam-like pokémon making it shut itself!

"What did you do now?" His words were ignored though. Ralts was desperately trying to pull his arm out, but the clam must have weiged about 10 times as much as a Ralts.

"Haha, you're really in a mess now aren't you?" He continued lauging at his pokémon's predicament.
He sat down so as to be at eye-level with the two pokémon. This might take a while. Standing would have only wasted energy.
"Ral?" The little Ralts looked at his trainer for help. It was completely clueless as to what to do.
"Why should I help? This is your problem."
The Ralts continued struggling to remove his hand. It's feet kept slipping in the ground and all it was doing was kicking some of the black sand against the Clamperl.
He stopped again. He was exhausted from fighting a pokémon.
"Really Rags?" the trainer continued, looking at his panting pokémon. "This pokémon's barely doing anything and it's already defeating you? I'd wonder how you'd do in a real battle?" Lucas merely grinned at his pokémon. He wasn't to keen on helping others unless necessary and he wanted his pokémon to be able to solve problems on his own rather than rely on him the whole time. He wasn't too worried either. Rags' hand was stuck and that was all. No injuries, no time limit and no danger. As far as he was concerned, they had enough time to waste on something like this.A perfect exercise for Ralts, he thought.

"Ral!" it looked begging at it's trainer. It's eyes were damp now, ready to cry.
"I'm not sticking my fingers in there! I told you that this is your problem, so you should be the one to solve it."
Ralts said nothing but continued looking at his trainer. Lucas looked back at his pokémons watery eyes.

They continued staring. Rags looking more and more sad with each passing minute.
Finally, his trainer submitted to his pokémon. "Fine, let's see what the pokédex says first. Maybe that'l help you?"
Rags sniffed.

Originally Posted by Pokédex

Clamperl, the Bivalve Pokémon. Clamperl holds a powerful shell that's useful in not only protecting itself, but also in clamping down on prey.

"Rararal!" That last word made the little one panic even more. He was now officially in tears adn desperately trying to pull his arm out.
Like a toddler crying for it's parent when it's finger gets stuck in the door, Rags was crying for his trainer to help.
"Alright I'll help, but be quiet. I can't think like this." The Ralts kept crying. NOONE can think like this!" The words fell on deaf ears as his toddler-like pokémon continued wailing. The parent trainer was blocking his ears from his child's pokémon's bawling.
He took a deep breath, hands still covering his ears, and let out a deep sigh.
After having cleared his mind, he looked at his child pokémon even more annoyed than before.
"Shut up finally!"
"Ru?" He suddenly stopped crying.
"I have an idea."The child Rags looked questioningly at his parent Lucas. A little hope in his parent trainer was evident.

He continued: "You need to attack it. Try charging an Ice Punch with your stuck hand. You might not even have to hurt it, the shock of cold might already make it open up." Even as he said it, he wasn't too sure about his own plan.
"Ral!" The kid Ralts was crying again.
"What do you mean it hurts too much!" The parent trainer was getting more and more frustrated with his own kid pokémon. Again, like a parent that was annoyed at his child who wouldn't stop crying.

Lucas gave a disgruntled sigh. "Fine, we'll go for plan B. It's a waste of money if you can't attack it though, but it's coming out of your allowance." He was opening his backpack already to get something but stopped halfway, thinking about what he had just said. He was puzzled. I don't give Rags an allowance. Why did I say that?
Before he continued searching his backpack, his child pokémon dimmed down and nodded to his parent trainer, holding a stiff upper lip. "Ru," he said softly, agreeing to his parent's trainer's proposal.
"Alright then," Lucas said in a calming manner towards Rags. Once again; like a parent that was softly encouraging his child to be brave, face his fears and do what needed to be done. Think; taking a flu shot.

(But back to the trainer-pokémon relationship)
"Okay Rags, use Ice Punch."

You find yourself in between a giant metal bird, and a hard place. There was not much more you could do. Soon, the Skarmory would have you, and it would be over. Just when all your hope seems to be lost, you hear something from the ground. ""Dolce, come back! Lure him to me, fly down as fast as you can!" It is none other than your trainer! Levin! 'Yay it's Levin I can't believe it is Levin he will save me!' You immediately take his advice, and flap your wings closer together, going into a free fall. While this makes you evade the Skarmory's notice temporarily, the Skarmory is quick on his wings, and does the same thing, going into a freefall. However, when an event like this happens, weight does not matter all too much, and you are able to maintain a slight lead over the Skarmory that is chasing you. You fall closer and closer to the ground, trying ever so carefully not to land in a tree or something and land into the clearing, because otherwise you really were going to be this Skarmory's dinner. When you get close to the ground, safely in the clearing, you flap your wings and redirect your course to make a beeline for Levin, but the Skarmory is one up on you, and grabs your wings, pinning you to the ground. The Skarmory caws as it gloats over its dinner, and while you struggle to get free, it is to no avail. The Skarmory has you trapped. It is over.

Levin, Hebi, Dolce, Opal

Or so it seemed. Because while you watched as Dolce got pinned by the Skarmory, Hebi for once got into action and breathed out a massive pillar of flames at Skarmory. It cawed for a moment before flying off of Dolce, looking at both you and the Dunsparce. It was probably trying to size up the situation at hand, and in the end, decides that the Swablu simply is not worth it in the long run, and flies off, cawing as it is a little grumpy for having its mealtime interrupted. Dolce flies over to you and cradles into your arms, happy to be back with you and obviously not dinner for today. Opal hops up and down at the sight of her friend being safe and sound, and the three of you are reuinted. Dolce relays to you what she saw, including the massive remains of a Draco Metoer, but unfortunately you find that she had nothing that would help you in your search of Min. Where could she be? And what was able to take her, being as powerful as she was? Nothing seemed to add up.....

What will you do?

Somehow, some way, Hebi had managed to understand the orders and released a Flamethrower so massive, it made the Skarmory give up on Dolce altogether, effectively saving her life! The tiny Swablu is very much aware of the fact, and flies over to the land snake, pecking it lightly in appreciation; Hebi, however, seemed to remain largely oblivious as to the magnitude of the deed, but thankful for having made a new friend nevertheless. Friends were nice.

Levin cradled Dolce in his arms for a while before apologizing for putting her in harm's way and thanking her for the info she'd recovered. He recalled her into her Pokeball to let her rest, then turned to Opal and Hebi.

- Okay guys, it's the three of us from now on. Opal, I need you to keep guiding us with your Foresight, it's our best bet to find Min. You were on to something before we had to stop to fight the Skarmory, think you can pick the trail up again? Hebi, as for you... thanks for saving Dolce. That was very heroic of you! You're coming along from now on, I might need you again.

If you don't space out at some critical juncture, anyway.

The whole scenario was troubling. The gigantic crater, apparently created by a single Dragon-Type Pokemon; the fact that whoever kidnapped Min did so with as little effort as to not rouse any suspicion, despite Min's considerable strength; the White Flute inexplicably failing, but a wild Skarmory appearing the next day... Nothing made sense, but all he knew was that the longer he stopped to dwell on these things, the lower their chances of finding Min became.

- Let's go guys! Opal, be our eyes and we'll follow!

He held an empty Luxury Ball in his hand and sighed; Mazo the Lucario had requested permission to explore Mt Infernus on his own before they set out for the peak; if only he was here now, perhaps he could sense Min's Aura, making things so much easier... But he was too much of a free spirit to be confined in a Pokeball, and Levin had no way of knowing where Mazo was right now - and thus, relying on him would be impossible. It was all riding on Opal's own, considerably less effective Foresight...

((Sorry for the short reply, but I can't have Levin find anything on his own without self-updating or having you guide him there at this moment :P))

Coming to the Granite Tunnel was really more of a whim for you that anything else, but the experience that you are bound to have is more than enough to warrant such a trip to the Tunnel. With you is Kiba, your faithful and loyal Elecktrike. He is quite attentive as you make the hike up, any noise or odd smell has him twitching both his ears and nose. When you get to the Granite Tunnel, you see a sign nearby the entrance.

WARNING!!!

Entering the Granite Tunnel is dangerous and may be hazardous to the lives of both you and your Pokemon! There have been reports of odd occurances in the Tunnel as of late, though we are unsure of what is truth and what is not. There have been reports of a pack of Joltik and Galvantula that are highly aggresive, and will attack on sight. They are rumored to be lead by a Galvantula that is covered in gold, but that is probably just unsubstantiated rumors that actual truth.

Trainers have been known to go missing inside of the cave, and it is very dark, so please be careful.

We are not liable for injuries that you might incur as a consequence of going inside of the cave.

-Cortoza Rangers

The sign sure creeps you out, but you go on, knowing that Kiba is with you, you are confident that he should be able to handle anything that comes your way. Wanting to get out of the stuffy and soot filled air, you turn on your flashlight, and walk into the tunnel.

Immediately you notice how dark the tunnel truly is. Within fifteen feet of going into the tunnel, you find it hard to see around you. It was suffocatingly dark inside, with only your flashlight as a guide into the dark labyrinth that lay ahead of you. You walk slowly and carefully, while Kiba sniffs the air and raises his ears into the air as he tries to catch any movement in the tunnel. As you walk, your foot hits something on the ground. Despite it feeling somewhat small, it is heavy and dense, and you draw your foot back in pain. It was like you kicked a large chunk of iron. you move the flashlight down onto where you kicked your foot and see that there is a small body there. It is pretty round, with four stubby legs, and one pretty large and round head. Its dark gray body is covered in steel armor that has a large spike on its back. Its eyes are a pale blue color, and there are small openings all over its body, noticeably the largest ones being where the eyes are. There is not mistaking the Pokemon that stands in front of you, it is an Aron.

The little Aron seems to be a little upset about being kicked so rudely, but is more curious on what you and your little Kiba are. The Aron has never seen a human before, none the less an Electrike. It runs up to you, and headbutts your leg, causing you to fall over. Kiba growls at the Aron for knocking you down, and it does seems upset now. It begins to cry, and runs away from you, wanting to be nowhere near that mean old Kiba. Who knows what could happen to the little guys if he is left alone in the darkness?

What will you do?

As he and Kiba had approached the Granite Tunnel, Katsura had noticed a rather conspicuously placed sign nearby. It had been posted by the local rangers, and mentioned the potential danger of the cave, including recent reports of some unfriendly Joltik and Galvantula within. He wasn't one to take warnings lightly, especially ever since failing to heed one in his younger years had cost him dearly. However, he also knew no journey was without its risks, and backing down at the slightest sign of danger would get him nowhere. "I suppose if I do run into those Joltik and Galvantula, Kiba and the others could probably fend them off. Though that would depend entirely on how many of them there are...", he mused to himself briefly before deciding to proceed, feeling fairly confident his Pokemon could keep him safe and reasoning that if there was an unmanageable amount of the spiders to deal with, Kiba would be able to warn him in advance.

He soon found the cave to be a lot darker then he been expecting, his flashlight barely able to pierce through it, and though he was treading carefully, he felt like it would only be a matter of time before he ended up stubbing his toe on something. No sooner then the thought had crossed his mind, his expectation came true, and shining his light down upon the "something" in turned out to be not a rock as he had initially thought, but an Aron.

It regarded him mostly with curiosity; the kick it had received likely having only tickled, if even that, thanks to its thick armor. Before Katsura give it an apology, though, it opted to knock him over with a headbutt to the shin, perhaps feeling the action might shed some light on the nature of the strange being before it. Perceiving the act as hostility, however, Kiba impulsively let out a fierce growl at the little Pokemon, who promptly went scurrying off into the darkness with fear.

"I don't think it meant any harm.", Katsura remarked to the Electrike, rubbing his aching leg and rear as he rose to his feet. His words made Kiba begin to look rather guilty for what he had done, though seeing this, his trainer reassured him: "Wild Pokemon tend to be unpredictable at best, though, so it never hurts to be cautious around them."

After musing about the situation for a moment, he elaborated on his next plan of action. "In any case, I don't think this flashlight is going to cut it in here. I was kind of hoping you could save your energy, but I think it would be best if you gave us some stronger lighting with Flash. Also, I think it would be for best if we had another Pokemon to watch our backs, and I know just the one..."

He then reached into his bag, and pulled a Pokeball, releasing from within it his spunky Charmander, Flandre. She felt the odd need to announce her presence with a loud cry of "CHAR!", raising her arms into the air as she did so, earning her an awkward smile from both her trainer and Kiba.

"Hey there, Flandre." Katsura uttered in greeting. "Me and Kiba were doing some spelunking, but I figured it would be safer to have another Pokemon around. There's supposedly a bunch of mean Joltik and Galvantula lurking about here, and having some extra firepower wouldn't hurt if they decide to show up. Plus, you've got that flame on your tail for some extra lighting." His words made Flandre hop up and down with excitement, though he wasn't sure whether she was happier about the prospect of exploring or the possibility of getting to battle.

"Well, now that everything's sorted out, I guess we can proceed. I reckon that Aron knows these caves pretty well, so let's head in the direction it went in.", the trainer said as he started to press on, now with two Pokemon close by his side.

OH HEY THIS UPDATE IS A THING I FORGOT TO RESPOND TO WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS

Originally Posted by Plight of Leon

The IslandGarland BasinSon_of_Shadows

Kirsten looks at you, and sees what you are saying. She sits down again, and looks on the ground. "See, this herb is grown in the village. The drug that your Steven was given is used to subdue dangerous people...or Pokemon. The drug you were given made it so you were easier to kidnap. But, they did not want Steven firing off strong attacks at them. This herb is the cure...but..." She begins to cry now. "It-it is a seriously cruel drug. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't make you sick.....*sob*....but it cures by....killing your willpower." She breaks into serious sobs now, and you can only put two and two together to figure out what had happened. "It is alright when people give it to Pokemon! They just become mindless! But when they give it to a person...when they give it to a young girl....." Her crying interrupts again, and you put an arm around her, as anyone would. She begins to calm down some after that. "When your mother lives only to please, because she is so freaking brainwashed, **** happens. **** happens."

She gets up now, and picks up the cloth, wrapping it around her hands again, and slams her fist into the ground. The truth was evident. She had more reason not to like this place after all, more reason than you could ever known. "Alright. This herb is grown in the village, but it guarded heavily. For obvious reasons. And not the ones that could have protected me. It grows out into the forest. We would have to get into the forest to get some of the herb. Just be warned though. Steven will lose all of his will when he eats this herb. This will clear his head, but if we are followed by someone, we are done for. They could command your Munna as if it was their own. Plus, while he will breathe on his own, he won't drink, and he won't eat. He has to be ordered to. You are going to need to be attentive to him." She stops speaking, taking the cloth off of her hands. You could see that most of the cloth was clean. There were some circles of blood, from when she decided to pound her fists into the ground, but there was also lines of blood. Lines. They were concentrated in one spot though.

"About your stuff....I am not sure what to do. You would probably have to find someone to come back here with. My Horus is not strong enough to help you..especially...never mind. I am sure we could find someone if needed. Alright, is there anything you want to do before we break out? Look around maybe? Getting the lay of the land would be a good idea."

What will you do?

Kirsten explained her backstory to him, without saying more than she needed. So she had more reasons to escape this village than he'd thought. Was there a way to save her mother? He felt a pang, knowing that there probably was not, and they would have to move on. And if their party grew any larger anyway, it would increase the chances of them getting caught. Ugh, this really sucked. Would Kirsten even want to save her mother? From the way she talked about her, it felt like she blamed her for succumbing to the willpower-draining effects of the herb. Whether that was fair or not was neither here nor there. Then he began to ponder the effects of the herb on Steven - if he became so easily controlled under its influence... Well, they would just have to move much more carefully. Joshua could carry the Munna under his arm, and try to block his ears or something.

Wait, did Munna even have ears? Very small ones, he supposed.

In any case, the time had come for them to make their move. "Yes, let's take a look around. Figure out guard patterns, any trap locations, and just to help me get familiar with everything. This won't be easy. Stay as close to me as you can."

Originally Posted by scytherdude30
no no no you need an empoleon as your powerhouse da listen to me man I AM THE BOMB

Originally Posted by Zincspider

Yes, someone is getting 'killed'... HOORAY FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!....

Hello again my loyal subjects! I mean updatees! Now that I am back, I am hopefully going to be updating once a week now. I do have a move in the future and hopefully that means more internet at my house, but for now, I only have constant internet on the weekends, so I will try my hardest to update on the weekends for you guys.

To Ex-Admiral Insane, I am putting your adventure on hold. I think it would be best if you were to stay in the AR and finish an adventure there. Once you are done in the AR, I will be happy to continue updating for you. The same applies to Escalion, I would wait until you are finished in the AR before I start having an adventure in Cortoza.

To Missingno Master, Charminions, and gmoyes, barring a miraculous return of Thrain(which I don't find likely), I am going to be your updater for now on. I have talked to Tess about it, and I agreed to take you three, since you seem to be the most active out of the group here. This is the limit though. I am only agreeing to take you three. This will put me at 16 updatees, which is a lot of work.

Have fun!!!

Mt. InfernusScenic Walkway
Dark Searchman

Your Pokemon are adamant on winning this battle, to drive the vandal away from the mountain and gain some security for the Pokemon who live here. But the one problem with this strategy is that you actually need targets to hit, and none are showing up at the moment. Revanant watches with glee as his Pokemon work wonder underground. The Krokorok and the Dugtrio slowly churn and spin underground, softening up the soil for some sort of attack. Sarkahn notices the ground give way a little bit under his feet, and sees it as a sign to get ready to attack. Amethyst hisses with glee, before she finds herself trapped in a quicksand whirlpool, along with Sarkahn. It is a SAND TOMB attack, and Sarkahn and Ametyst are pretty stuck in there as the sand spins around endlessly, with no stopping. Sarkahn roars as he tries to get some footing, but a SAND TOMB of this size keeps him trapped inside. Amethyst is a little more lucky, as she quickly slithers her way out, able to ride the currents of the sand using her smooth belly. She emerges from the quicksand, only to find that a large blast of ground energy is coming for her through the soil of the mountain. She is hit by the blast and launched back, the powerful EARTH POWER dealing pretty big damage to Amethyst as she flies back, thankfully not landing inside the quicksand again. The Dugtrio laughs for a bit as he caught her by surprise, and sees the Krokorok readying his attack.

The Krokorok's arm is covered in a deep dark energy, and he swings it at Amethyst right when she hits the ground. The attack hits her hard, as it is not only a dark attack, this is a case of FOUL PLAY, as Krokorok uses her higher attack to his advantage and deals 25% more damage then he would have dealt himself! Amethyst screeches as hisses back, before using one of her powerful attacks and binding Krokorok in green tentacles of energy. The Krokorok tries to break free from the attack, knowing that his health is being slowly taken away from him, but is unable to , grunting as he tries to avoid the effects of the attack, the draining attack GIGA DRAIN. Amethyst looks relieved as she gets some health back, but it is not enough for the large amount of damage she has taken. Her tail then becomes covered in an aqua sheen, a watery coating. She swings it at Krokorok who is still a little winded after that last attack, and smashes him directly on, causing him to fly off. But he gets up, looking very beaten at this point. Sarkahn is still trapped in the whirlpool, but without the two actively keeping it up, he should be out very soon. Amethyst is looking a little beaten up herself, and Dugtrio hasn't sustained a scratch really.

Knowing that of course the Gulpin probably is across the river at the moment, you silently both curse and fear the river next to you, promising that next time you will be at a place where there is absouletly no water. A desert maybe. Counting up your possible options...you find that you have none really. A Spearow with a fear of heights...a Ferroseed for the lols...a Scyther you don't exactly trust yet...and a Purrloin, who was a cat. Your items were not going to help much at all(or would they?), so you decide that the best course of action would be to bring Colm out and she what he could find.

After a rather heartwarming little discussion, Colm goes bounding off in a random direction. you quickly following him. You hope that his unbridled enthusiasm meant that she had found something. He runs into the woods for a little bit before popping out again, and is immediately captivated by something else entirely superfluous for the task at hand...a group of Slowpoke. THe group of Slowpoke is only about six or seven of them, and they all have the same dopey expressions that are trademark for the Slowpoke line...the expression of complete and utter derp. Not even the mighty Stunfisk(although mighty he is not) can compete with this level of derp, and Colm seems to be more fascinated by their tails than by anything else. You think that just because they are moving them around that he is enticed by it and just wants to play, but Colm manages to grab one of the tails and meows at you. You walk over there, and just before you are about to tell Colm that we don't have time to be playing around with the tails of Slowpoke, you look at the tail more closely and find a big mouth mark on it. There wasn't teeth, but it looked like something sucked on it pretty hard. Something that must have been pretty hungry to do such a thing. Could this be another result of the Gulpin that you are looking for?

Before you have the time to try and ask the Slowpoke(no matter how much good it might actually do), the Slowpoke, probably now just feeling the pain on its tail, goes to stick it in the water so that it could feel better. It must hurt having your tail chomped on by a Gulpin...but since you don't have tail(I hope not :O) you can't exactly relate to that. The Slowpoke looks relieved before an expression comes to its face of sudden wonder. The Slowpoke glows a bright white color before transforming into something two legged and much bigger. The Slowpoke evolved into a Slowbro right before your eyes! Slowbro tend to be more intelligent than their Slowpoke cousins...but it only happen in brief flashes of illumination. But, it could hurt to try right? And who knows...maybe it could even ferry you across the river?

What will you do? The IslandShale Beach
myahoo

After having it pretty much decided that you were going to stay at the sight and try and see if you could find some more artifacts, mostly becuse of Imp's enthusiasm at it, you get ready and sit next to Manny, who looks at you and smiles. "Don't worry too much about Cid. He is a rather nice man. He is a little too motivated, and forgets that people sometimes are a little put-off by that fact. I could see it on your face that you were getting suspicious of us, so I might as well explain it to you a little more clearly exactly why we are doing this. We are an archeological group that wants to show the world the wonders of an ancient civilization, the great things that existed in our past. The Lufenians were an amazing people if we have all the little details right. The other organization that is trying to dig up artifacts and stuff as well, but they are not interested in things like stone tablets or ceremonial staffs. They are more interested in the technology of the Lufenians. Now, we don't have their languagues translated, but their pottery often has pictures on its that we think are pictures of their way of life. Pictures of things we could never possibly imagine." Manny pulls out his laptop from his knapsack, and opens it up. After clicking and moving windows for a couple of minutes, he flips the laptop around and shows you a picture:

Spoiler:- picture:

"This picture here seems to be an artist's rendition of the Lufenian sky fortress. Tablets have shown a large city floating above the cloud, and if this piece of pottery is accurate, they have technology far more advanced than ours. Putting a city into the sky...that is simply incredible! Other pictures show different things...like this one here!"

Spoiler:- picture:

"This seems to be some sort of robotic soldier almost. If such technology existed, of course people would want to get their hands on it. Of course. this applies to the Lufenian Society. They want to sell the technology to the highest bidder. But who are these highest bidders? These are philantrophics and Nobel Peace prize winners. The Lufenian Society is a thinly veiled attempt at arms dealing. They want to sell the weapons. The soldier you just saw. Imagine how much that would make on the black market? That is not what we want. Any technology we would find would go into the right hands. It would go into the hands of people who would use it to benefit society instead of cause war."

Imp seems rather impatient already to get started with the digging, and Manny laughs. "Your Misdreavus seems excited by this. Alright, since most of the beach is just sand, you can just push most of it out of the way with your hands. If you find something hard, don't try to pull it out, dig it out with the toothbrush." Imp gets right to work on the beach, digging in the sand. And soon enough, she says she has hit something. Manny goes over and looks, but says that it was just a rock. Imp is not convinced however, and asks you to take a look at it. Walking over, you see it does indeed look like a rock, though a rather pretty rock in and of itself. It is pitchblack, and from what you can see is nearly circular. There is red lines running all around it, but it looks so natural. It does look like a rock. You notice a small dent in the rock, however, that looks like a square, just big enough to put your finger inside. Now that you look at it, the rock looks a little...too pretty.

What will you do?

Mt. CenizaThe Rock Pool
Itzatrap

Deciding that there was really no other choice than to follow the path the voice was leading you to, since doing nothing was not going to be productive in any way, Guaca walks down the jungle path, unsure of what he might possibly find in the woods. The woods were alive with the sounds of Pokemon, with ferocious roars, the scattering of animals, the tweeting of birds. There was no doubt about it, the woods were alive. Alive in a way that really was not up to Guaca's style. He a little timid after all.

The path doesn't seem to lead anywhere at first. Guaca ends up walking through tract after tract after tract of forest. The situation seemed hopeless. Whatever this path was, it did not seem like it was going anywhere at all.

Until, of course, you see an old man sitting in the middle of the path. He was a really old person, probably about eighty to ninety years old, and was mostly bald on the top of his head; only a few wispy hairs remained after what was probably at one point a full head of hair. His face was wrinkeled and pale, like he had not been out in the sun for a week. He had awhite beard that he kept trimmed down to a reasonable size, not a beard the drooped down over the front of him. He was wearing very modest clothing, nothing more than a simple brown robe that covered his body. Next to him was a Grumpig who was sitting, looking at you with curiosity and interest.

"So, you are the Drilbur I called for. I must admit, you do have considerable determination to be able to reach me all the way over here. But, keep this in mind. Everything has a zero point. Everything moves towards the zero point. For humans, everything has to move fowards. Technology, science, art, literature. Everything must move forward in some way. But what about spirits and souls, the opposite of the living? Wouldn't it make sense that they would be going in the opposite direction? Not forwards, but backwards? The key to your journey, then, is not to go forwards, but to go backwards."

Looking behind himself, Guaca sees that he is at the lake again, like he had not moved anywhere at all. It was like he walked for hours just to find that he never really walked at all. Looking back towards the man, Guaca finds that the man is gone and just the Grumpig is there. It takes no note of Guaca and just continues on with its business. Guaca turns around and looks back at the lake to see an opening that was not there before, going under the lake. The water miraculousy parting around it.

What will you do?

The IslandShale Beach
Food Guy

As you wait, wondering what to do now that you have gotten dressed, a man comes by, different from the other one, and walks in front of you. "So, you are a new recruit. Come with me, we have a job for you new ones." The man spoke with disdain in his voice, as if you were nothing in his eyes and he was something like a god. He walks away from you quickly, and you have no choice but to follow him, making sure you don't trip or do something silly in front of him. Knowing him, he would probably belt you one.

He gets to the entrance and standing next to him is a Lucario, absentmidely scratching at the grass underneath his feet. He didn't seem to be as haughty as his trainer, but he surely didn't look you in the eyes either. "Alright, recruit. What I need you to do is to make sure that stock room is all organized and accurate with our current reports. We are going to be moving operations soon, since this place didn't pan out."

"Micheal, what is the meaning on this?" Micheal turned around to see the man that had led you into the building, looking at him with anger. "Look, Jeff....I" "Don't make excuses. You know very well that the recruit was put under my care. You can shovel off your work onto him." "God damn it Jeff." Micheal walks away, his Lucario following him. "Don't worry about Micheal. He is just talk. Anyways, I need to come into the Jeep over there," he says as he points to your left to a small group of Jeeps, "And come with me back to the Shale Beach. There was news of a find over there, and we need to be the first ones there in case anythin was found. So, of course, we want you with us since you are just a greenhorn. Get the lay of the job."

You don't say anything to him, but he walks away like he expects you to follow him unconditionably. You do notice though that the camp is eeirely quiet...this might be the time to pull the slip on them and get away.

What will you do?

Mt. InfernusThe Rock Pool
CyberBlastoise

You and your Kabutops surely got the riddle alright, but it seems that you need to find a pearl for the riddle to be turly solved, and in the wasteland around here, no pearls were going to be found. You decide to walk off in a random direction, the direction your gut says will bring you to the right place.

Walking through the forest, with your Kabutops helping out of course with the foilage, you here some noises nearby. It sounds like a kid shouting at the something, like he was being attacked or something. You can't clearly hear his words though, and you wonder if he is okay. Moving through the foilage as best as you can, you wander slowly towards the voice, and you can begin to hear snippets of the conversation. "Lost to a..." "Stupid...." "You were..." Again, not quite sure what is going on, but it doesn't sound like the kid is in danger, but that he is yelling at something or at himself. You continue to pust past the dense plant life that seems bent on keeping you from the kid.

When you see the kid in a small clearing, he is standing in front of a Clamperl, who has its shell shut and is shivering, probably in fear. "You godamn stupid Clamperl! You were supposed to be the best Pokemon in the world! Shell Smash DeepSeaTooth Clamperl! The best!" He kicks the shell of the Clamperl, and despite the wieght difference, he doesn't seem to be in too much pain from hitting the shell. "And look what I got. A Pokemon that quite simply just dies to everything! A Ferroseed, a Munchlax, a Chinchou, a Stunky. Easy Pokemon to beat, and you lost to each and every one of them!" He delivers another kick to the shell. Having none of this, your Kabutops runs out and confronts the kid, who screams at the sudden sight of a Pokemon with scythes for hands. You sigh and walk out with him, and the kid glares at you. "This is your chance Clamperl, prove that you can beat the Kabutops and you can stay with me!" "Clammmmmm....." Even though the trainer was abusing it, it seems like it doesn't want to disobey its trainer and gets ready to fight.

What will you do?

Mt. CenizaGranite Tunnel
Kairne

The local Rangers were not exactly your friends at this point, as it seems that their stipulation of making you wear boots put you at a disadvantage. Without the feel of the ground under your feet, you find yourself more insecure about moving through the tunnel. With you bare feet on the ground, you are more attuned to the vibrations and the movements of nature. Indeed, that may prove to be your downfall. Above you, a large Galvantula spies on you, completely unnoticed by its prey, you. The bait it has laid has worked prefectly, and as its golden body sway a little bit as it moves silently, it gets ready to pounce on you.

---Meanwhile---

A boy is running through the tunnel with his Zigzagoon, both running away from a Galvantula that has decided to give chase to them. They both pant and dash with every ounce of their strength, but the Galvantula is always coming, moving behind them with a rather demon-like speed and agility. The boy and the Zigzagoon notice a narrow passageway, and both dart in, the Galvantula crashing into the walls behind them. It hisses at them, but they are safe for the moment. "HELLP!!! HELP PLEASE!!! SOMEONE HELP US!!!"

---Back to Kairne---

You hear the screaming of a kid inside of the cave, warped and distorted by its many passages. Your Shuppet hears it as well, and looks at you with curiousity in its eyes, wondering what you are going to do about the odd screams and noises it is hearing from inside of the cave. The Joltik that was with your Shuppet squeaks and runs off, probably scared off by the sounds of the screaming in the cave. You quickly make up your mind to go see who needs help, as leaving somebody isn't exactly the right thing to do, when you feel something wet against your neck...it feels like saliva. This is the warm caress of a lover's tongue, but as you look up, you see a Galvantula, its body encrusted with gold, above you. It sees you have noticed it, and gives out a piercing SCREECH that rattles through the cave, and causes you to incur some temporary deafness from the loudness of the noise. You fall to the ground as the Galvantula jumps down, readying to pounce on you if you give one sign of weakness.

What will you do?

Mt. InfernusMountain Peak
MarbleZone

With nothing more up your sleeve on how to find Min, you decide that the best idea is to try and look for her on your own. You remember about how Opal's Foresight saw the remains of a Crunch attack in the soil, and you decide that following that clue would be the best idea for you to take. I mean, sure, the only idea must be the best idea.

As you walk towards the Crunch mark in the ground, you suddenly come upon a realization. The Crunch attack is a Dark type attack, and even though there were quite a few dark types that learned the move and many that did not, it simply didn't add up either with the Draco Meteor. Maybe if we were to input both variables at once, it would give us the Pokemon that could have possibly taken Min. Opening your Pokedex, you quickly search for fully evolved Pokemon that learned both the moves Crunch and Draco Meteor.

If you ever needed something to shatter your hopes and dreams, this list was it. Well, you could discount some of the Pokemon anyways. It was VERY unlikely it would a Rayquaza, Reshiram, or Zekrom, seeing as they Pokemon were rarely ever seen and probably would have done more than kidnap Min. A Smeargle probably wasn't the culprit. Druddigon, Flygon, and Garchomp all were powerful Pokemon, but with low Sp. Atk stats, it was unlikely that a Draco Meteor by either of them would cause the kind of impact that Dolce found. This left two Pokemon, Hydreigon, and Salamence. Both were powerful Pokemon, on a near legendary status, and they both could learn the moves Crunch and Draco Meteor. It could have been either one of them. You would need more knowledge before you made a desicion.

Of course during this entire time you were walking and didn't notice your surroundings, and managed to bang your head up against something hard. You step back and rub your head, and look and see that you had hit some kind of large acorn. It was a Seedot. It looks startled, and falls from the tree, running off as if it had seen a ghost. You laugh for a bit at hitting your hard on the Pokemon(even if it was a LITTLE mean), but Dolce and Opal don't share your light-heartedness. You look behind you and see another Pokemon...this one not looking at all too happy. It was large red Pokemon, though it was not entirely red. It's shoulders and legs were, and so was its face and tail, but its body was striped with red and yellow, and its arms were also yellow, and looked like mortar cannons. It seems the White Flute brought out another Pokemon, a Magmortar, and it looks like walking into its territory wasn't the brightest idea....you better think of something fast, cause I AM OUTTA HERE!!!

What will you do? Mt. CenizaGranite Tunnel
Rakurai

Your Charmander Flandre happily comes out of its Pokeball, and having the Fire type on your team was a really good idea, especially if there was Bug type Pokemon who wanted nothing more than to cook you alive. Cook? Maybe that isn't the best word for it. Maybe wrap you in silk, pump digestive acids into your body, and suck up what is left.

I'm not helping am I?

Anyways, you walk in the direction of the Aron, figuring that it must know the caves pretty well and that with both Kiba and Flandre with you, you were going to be pretty prepared at anything that could come and get you. Unfortunately, even with the amount of light you get with Flash and Charmander's tail, you are unable to see where the Aron went, and walk down a tunnel that you are not sure of where it goes. All you know is that the tunnel is going down, deeping into and under the mountain. The heat is becoming unbearable as well, and even your Charmander is getting a little warm. Being near a volcano is a problem, even if it was supposedly extinct or dormant or whatever. The land gets hotter the deeper down you go.

Flandre cries out as she begins to trip as the rocks give way a little bit on the path, and falls down. She isn't hurt, but she looks up and sees that she fell onto a sleeping Camerupt. After that little spoof, it isn't sleeping anymore, and with a rather angered expression it looks at Flandre, and then at you and Kiba. Then, the Camerupt ROARS at Flandre, causing her to jump back and away from the Camerupt. It is definetely angry at being woken up, and it might not be the best idea to fight it either, as it has a major advantage over both of your Pokemon. Maybe you can find someway to appease this not-so-gentle giant?

Your Charmander Flandre happily comes out of its Pokeball, and having the Fire type on your team was a really good idea, especially if there was Bug type Pokemon who wanted nothing more than to cook you alive. Cook? Maybe that isn't the best word for it. Maybe wrap you in silk, pump digestive acids into your body, and suck up what is left.

I'm not helping am I?

Anyways, you walk in the direction of the Aron, figuring that it must know the caves pretty well and that with both Kiba and Flandre with you, you were going to be pretty prepared at anything that could come and get you. Unfortunately, even with the amount of light you get with Flash and Charmander's tail, you are unable to see where the Aron went, and walk down a tunnel that you are not sure of where it goes. All you know is that the tunnel is going down, deeping into and under the mountain. The heat is becoming unbearable as well, and even your Charmander is getting a little warm. Being near a volcano is a problem, even if it was supposedly extinct or dormant or whatever. The land gets hotter the deeper down you go.

Flandre cries out as she begins to trip as the rocks give way a little bit on the path, and falls down. She isn't hurt, but she looks up and sees that she fell onto a sleeping Camerupt. After that little spoof, it isn't sleeping anymore, and with a rather angered expression it looks at Flandre, and then at you and Kiba. Then, the Camerupt ROARS at Flandre, causing her to jump back and away from the Camerupt. It is definetely angry at being woken up, and it might not be the best idea to fight it either, as it has a major advantage over both of your Pokemon. Maybe you can find someway to appease this not-so-gentle giant?

What will you do?

Even with two additional light sources, Katsura and his Pokemon were finding it quite difficult to see. He hadn't a clue as to where he was going, the Aron being nowhere in sight. What was for certain, though, was that they were going deeper into the mountain and that it was getting hotter, as well.

"I think we must've taken a wrong turn... I can't imagine that an Aron would want to be somewhere so hot...", he thought to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Kiba had started to pant, and surprisingly, even Flandre was looking uneasy about the heat. While she was a fire type, it seemed probable to Katsura that she'd still needed time to grow accustomed to such an environment.

He was feeling about ready to go back and look for a different path that led somewhere a bit more comfortable when he heard Flandre emit a cry as she unexpectedly fell off the path they were on due to some unstable footing, though her fall was thankfully caught by something quickly. At least, Katsura had felt thankful until he realized the "something" was an irate Camerupt who roared with displeasure at having its sleep disturbed, making the Charmander back away in a panic.

"Ugh... I wasn't prepared for something like this...", Katsura grumbled to himself quietly as he quickly considered his options. He had no interest in picking a fight with an evolved Pokemon that had an advantage over his, so a peaceful resolution seemed like the best idea at the moment; namely, talking his way out of the situation.

"Um... We're terribly sorry to have disturbed your sleep.", he said politely to the Camerupt. "We seem to have taken a wrong turn, as we can't see very well in the dark. So, if you don't mind, we'll be getting out of here so as to not trouble you any further..." As he spoke, he gestured to Flandre with his right hand for her to come over to him, and motioned with his left hand to signal to both her and Kiba that he intended to head back the way they had came from.

After he finished, he proceeded to quickly whisper a back-up plan to Kiba in case the Camerupt responded with aggression. "If it attacks, Kiba, be ready defend me or Flandre with Protect, then intensify your Flash to disorient it so we can try to make an escape..." Both of his Pokemon nodded their heads in acknowledgment to his commands. All that remained was to see how things would play out...

Your Pokemon are adamant on winning this battle, to drive the vandal away from the mountain and gain some security for the Pokemon who live here. But the one problem with this strategy is that you actually need targets to hit, and none are showing up at the moment. Revanant watches with glee as his Pokemon work wonder underground. The Krokorok and the Dugtrio slowly churn and spin underground, softening up the soil for some sort of attack. Sarkahn notices the ground give way a little bit under his feet, and sees it as a sign to get ready to attack. Amethyst hisses with glee, before she finds herself trapped in a quicksand whirlpool, along with Sarkahn. It is a SAND TOMB attack, and Sarkahn and Ametyst are pretty stuck in there as the sand spins around endlessly, with no stopping. Sarkahn roars as he tries to get some footing, but a SAND TOMB of this size keeps him trapped inside. Amethyst is a little more lucky, as she quickly slithers her way out, able to ride the currents of the sand using her smooth belly. She emerges from the quicksand, only to find that a large blast of ground energy is coming for her through the soil of the mountain. She is hit by the blast and launched back, the powerful EARTH POWER dealing pretty big damage to Amethyst as she flies back, thankfully not landing inside the quicksand again. The Dugtrio laughs for a bit as he caught her by surprise, and sees the Krokorok readying his attack.

The Krokorok's arm is covered in a deep dark energy, and he swings it at Amethyst right when she hits the ground. The attack hits her hard, as it is not only a dark attack, this is a case of FOUL PLAY, as Krokorok uses her higher attack to his advantage and deals 25% more damage then he would have dealt himself! Amethyst screeches as hisses back, before using one of her powerful attacks and binding Krokorok in green tentacles of energy. The Krokorok tries to break free from the attack, knowing that his health is being slowly taken away from him, but is unable to , grunting as he tries to avoid the effects of the attack, the draining attack GIGA DRAIN. Amethyst looks relieved as she gets some health back, but it is not enough for the large amount of damage she has taken. Her tail then becomes covered in an aqua sheen, a watery coating. She swings it at Krokorok who is still a little winded after that last attack, and smashes him directly on, causing him to fly off. But he gets up, looking very beaten at this point. Sarkahn is still trapped in the whirlpool, but without the two actively keeping it up, he should be out very soon. Amethyst is looking a little beaten up herself, and Dugtrio hasn't sustained a scratch really.

Hyrem wanted to win this battle so Revenant would never set foot at this mountain again, but Sarkhan and Amethyst? Well, their demands were a little simpler, they just wanted targets to rough up. Now if only the two cowardly Ground-types would show themselves! Oh, but they would ... after they stirred up the ground enough to turn it into Sand, that is! As Hyrem's Pokemon struggle to escape the trap that would likely make a Trapinch proud, Sarkhan finds himself unable to make any headway, though Amethyst is at least able to escape the Tomb by distributing her weight evenly while slithering out. Though she escaped only to find the Earth underneath her erupting with enough Power to knock her around, which set her up to be combo'd by Krokorok's Foul Play! Yikes, she was now down below half health, that was a very potent combo! Darnit, I knew they'd exploit the type advantage against Amethyst! Hyrem cursed to himself.

Fortunately, Amethyst had a few moves that could turn the battle around! First, she finally got to Giga Drain Krokorok's energy, as she wrapped it in green tentacles and started drinking it in. She was still worse for the wear, but she still licked her lips in satisfaction; if only she were allowed to swallow the actual body... Still, she also takes great pleasure in whacking Krokorok across the site with an Aqua Tail, though Krokorok is still able to stand up, but just barely. All she needed was one more attack on her prey...

Meanwhile, Sarkhan is still unable to get himself out of the Sand Tomb, no matter how much he tries to claw his way out. His pupils narrow as he is so utterly frustrated that, instead of clawing his way out of the sand ... Hyrem could see him claw his way through it. Then through some more solid ground. When in doubt, adapt to your situation, and you may find yourself learning a new skill as Sarkhan just did. "Wow, did Sarkhan just use Dig? All right, way to go, big guy!" Hyrem cheered for his dragon. Ah, but not to be outdone, Amethyst suddenly cranes her head back before striking the ground with such a force, that her trainer could barely see her slink under the surface too. "You too, Amethyst!?" Hyrem called out to her in equal surprise. "Okay then! Let's do it! Amethyst, Dig your way to a KO on Krokorok, then come back for some Fresh Water! Sarkhan, you Dig too, but go after Dugtrio and try to get a Crunch attack on him too!" Hyrem knew that, having just learned how to travel underground, they wanted to impress him with their skills. But using Dig against two experienced Ground-type Pokemon was seriously risky. I mean, what if Dugtrio and/or Krokorok knew that move? They'd be flattened for sure! Hyrem just had to trust that his reptiles would be able to keep up with the two Ground-types. Then they'd be able to play the Revenant's game and maybe even give him a taste of his own medicine!

*Indiana Jones music plays*...IN! BE! FORE! THE! LOCK!

Spoiler:- Fun Picture:

The IslandGarland Basin
Son_of_Shadows

Indeed did Kirsten explain why she hated this village so much, and in no way did she need to be direct about it. Now there were more factors in the kettle that before, including this most recent one...hopefully she would not try to go for revenge on the village. She didn't seem like the one to do that.

Kirsten agrees that while it is still light out, you should explore the village so that when you do escape, there will be no hitches. The biggest hitch of all, of course as you soon found out, was Stephen. If he were to be controlled by another person, it would be disasterous.

You walk around the village with Kirsten, and nobody seems to eye you weird at all. Kirsten is making it seem like it a tour of some sort, pointing out various things of interest. "The bean farm is over there. Mostly it is the women and young children who work there. You probably won't have that job. You have got a little bit more of the youthful vigor this village needs." She then moves closer to your ear, and says in a whisper, "That bean field is where we are going to make the break for it. There is a period of about five minutes when the guards don't move past there. Another thing to keep in mind..." She suddenly stops and looks away. You look in her direction, and see a woman who could be a spittin image of Kirsten, just older. You realize this is her mother, and a small ball of hate forms inside of you. This woman did nothing while...you didn't even want to think about it.

"Hello Mother. How are you today?" she said in a calm voice, but one lacking affection. She was trying to keep her rage hidden inside of her as well. "Don't be kind to me, dragon child! I see through you evil machinations! You may fool the village, you may fool the chief with your slithery tongue, but you cannot fool your own mother! I gave birth to you, I gave birth to your sins!" Someone came by and grabbed Kirsten's mother, and brought her along somewhere else. "Poor Mother. She can't see that I have changed my ways." She smiles as she puts a hand to your neck. You gag for a moment, wondering what is wrong with her, before she lets go, giggling to herself. "I got you good! Come on, there is something else I need to show you." That was her idea of a joke? Jeez.

She brings you around to another building, and show you behind it. You see a field of small green plants. "This is the herb here. We aren't going to be able to steal it from the farm, but you need to be able to recognize it when we get out into the forest. Because we need to be able to get your Munna back into perfect condition as quickly as possible." You agree with her, before realizing something. "Wait, what about my other Pokemon?" "Other?" she says, as though she never considered that you might have more Pokemon than just your Munna. "Umm...that is an issue. I think we might be able to do something about it. But we are going to have to come back for them. I'm sorry, there is no other way." You come to grips with leaving your Pokemon here, saying it is for the best, but hope nothing will happen to them. "Come on, it is almost sundown. I need to grab a few things before night sets."

You go with her back to her cabin/shack/whatever you would call it, and she grabs a couple of mementos, and you both wait for night fall. She looks out the window as night comes, and sees a man walk by. "This is our chance! Let's run for it!" You both break free of the cabin, running as fast as you can for the bean fields. You both reach the farmhouse when Kirsten swears under hre breath. You look over and see a young man, probably 13, guarding the bean fields in a different spot that the guards were supposed to. "Crap, how did I know that they were going change the guard positions? Just my luck. Listen, we came this far. We can still make a break for it. If we don't, than there is no other way we can get out. Even if I don't make it...you should still be able to leave and get help."

You don't want to leave her behind, especially when she did all of this to help you from certain death and try to get out of the village. You don't have many options though. Looking to your right you see a farm hoe...as a last resort you could possibly hit the boy over the head with it and knock him out. What ever you do, think fast, because you only have a couple of minutes!

What will you do?

Mt. CenizaGranite Tunnel
Rakurai

You feverisly try to calm down the irate Camerupt, saying that you were sorry and that it was merely an accident. Your Elektrike and Charmander say the same thing to the Camerupt, who merely just listens on. And...it seems to have worked. It must not have wanted to fight you all that badly. Maybe it was just making a point or a showy display, but it nods and simply goes back to sleep, not worrying about the three of you anymore now that he understand the situation. He begins to snore loudly, and the three of you all sigh to yourself, thanking your stars that the Eruption Pokemon did not decide to show you the power of its Eruption. You continue to walk down the tunnel, now making more sure than ever that you watch your step now before any more Camerupt get woken up. You see a light at the end of the tunnel, wondering what it could possibly be, and continue going.

All of a sudden, you feel a large tremor shake the mountain, and you instantly freeze in fear. Mt. Ceniza is an active volcano, though no one figured that it was going to erupt anytime soon! You look behind you and see that the tunnel is collapsing behind you. Flandre cries out again and runs forwards, not wanting to be caught in the rock slide that was coming from behind her. You run as well, along with Kiba, and make it to the exit of the tunnel. You look down and see that it is at least a 20 foot drop, but there is a better chance of surviving the jump than surviving the rocks, and you jump down, along with Flandre and Kiba. You hit the ground and roll, thankfully not hurt from the fall, and see that the tunnel had completely collasped in. You get up and look around, and see that you are in a large cavern with molten lava everywhere. Thankfully you didn't land anywhere near the molten lava, being a good fifteen feet away from any of it, but it could be a problem...you didn't pack a lot of water for this journey, and being in here would dehydrate you fast.

Kiba suddenly barks behind you, causing you to spin around and see that an anteater of some sort is behind you, and it doesn't look friendly. In its hand, it has grabbed the tail of Flandre, and you realize that she fell on top of the anteater when they jumped. It looks very pissed off, and breathes a little lick of fire out of its mouth. You realize then that is a Pokemon you have heard about, the Anteater Pokemon Heatmor!

The Heatmor breathes in for a moment, before breathing out a massive pillar of flames out of its mouth at Kiba. Kiba yips and tries to jump out of the way, but is clipped by the Flamethrower, falling to the ground akwardly as the Heatmor vents out some smoke. This definetely seems like it is a tough Pokemon and it doesn't look open to negotiation.

What will you do?

Mt. InfernusScenic Walkway
Dark Searchman

Sarkahn struggles through the sand, and seems to have finally have enough of this. It is readily apparent that he can't climb out of the whirlpool, as he can't manuveur himself like that, but maybe he could get it so he could dig under it? He begins to dig through the whirlpool, but the spinning sands make it more difficult the usual, and since he has the cross the whirlpool to reach the Dugtrio, he finds himself wading through the sand, taking longer than usual to move through the soil. Amethyst also seems to have become a natural digger, and maybe this is to adapt to Revanant's battle style, but she easily digs her way through the soil, not being stuck in a mess of sand like Sarkahn.

But this may have been a grave mistake. You admit it was a risky strategy, but you never realized that Earthquake wasn't the only move that was fatal towards diggers. "You think you can move in the earth, and match my Pokemon? Well, let me tell you this, you have made a grave mistake. Your Pokemon shall feel my rage, as I send it through the land! Dugtrio, show them the power of your MAGNITUDE!!!" Yes, that move. Dugtrio learns it at Level 15. You completely forgot about it. Dugtrio goes into the ground, and suddenly it begins to shake and crack apart. This is a strong magnitude, and before you know it, the ground cracks apart in two places, causing Amethyst and Sarkahn to shoot out of the ground. After the effects of the quake are felt, I get a text on my phone that a MAGNITUDE 8 earthquake was felt in the area, and that all trainers should be advised. It was too late for Amethyst though, as being underground meant she felt the effects even more than usual, and it was enough to knock her out cold. Revanant laughs to himself as he sees the fainted snake. "This is what happens when ameteurs get the idea to make art! People end up getting hurt!"

Sarkahn looks to be pretty injured as well, as the Magnitude also did a lot of damage to him as well. But, he was out of the Sand Tomb, and that was a plus. He leaps forwards at the Dugtrio, ready to make him pay for the fallen teamate, and Crunches onto Dugtrio's head, making it scream in pain. The Dugtrio uses the same strategy that get Sarkahn off of its head, by Scratching it off, but it forgot about Sarkahn's ROUGH SKIN, making it take more damage as the giant beast lets go of its grip on the Pokemon. And where is the Krokorok? Well, the Magnitude was a double-edged sword, as it seems that Krokorok simply couldn't take the hit, it was too much for him, and fainted as well. So, things might acutally be even at the moment!

"You Durddigon looks mean and nasty, but it won't be able to touch me! Don't get cocky kid, because the battle has really started now!" Revanant says as he recalls his fallen Krokorok into its Pokeball, putting it back into his pocket.

Dugtrio is looking to be tired at the moment, having to expend his energy like this in only a few rounds worth of battle. Sarkahn is fresh though, and his attacks will come a little bit faster because of the pride of avenging a fallen ally. This is still anyone's match, so who will win this!?

What will you do?

Mt. CenizaGranite Tunnel
Missingno. Master

Clyde quitely listens in on your idea of finding the Houndoor, and when you are done and Peeves goes back into his Pokeball, he speaks up for a bit. "This honestly sounds like a pretty good idea. Even a Houndoor won't be able to escape a Weedle's nose! I think anyways. I have never had a Weedle before. And even if he is not inside of this tunnel, we should be able to get back and go down the other tunnel. I still think that the right tunnel is the one we should take, but I see your point. Let's go."

You walk down the tunnel to the left, the one with the claw marks, and Hermiones quietly sniffs the air while alternating that with marking the walls of the tunnel with a String shot. It truly is a great plan. Clyde looks at the claw marks on the wall, and you notice that they go really far in. This wasn't the result of a skirmish between a Houndoor and another Pokemon. "Hey, Keith, can we stop for a moment? I am getting worn out." You agree, and lay down on the wall of the tunnel for a moment, catching your breath. This walk was a little bit more arduous that you had though as well. "I wanted to point something out as well. If you have noticed...the claw marks on the walls, they are not from a Houndoor. For one, they are too deep for a Houndour. For two, they seem to be made by just one claw. Houndoor have more than one on their feet. I don't know any Pokemon that have only one claw to fight. It seems like it would be a little bit disadvantageous." You agree with him that it was a little bit odd that the claw marks were like that, and decide to ask Hermione if she smelled the Houndoor anywhere. She shakes her head no, and you get ready to go back.

That is when the earth begins to shake. Mt. Ceniza is an active volcano, though no one is quite sure when it will erupt again. This seems to be one of its tremors, and you hold on to the wall for dear life. Clyde yells at you, "Come on! We gotta move!" and you hear a distant rumbling sound behind you. Looking behind you, you see that the tunnel is beginning to cave-in, and you run as fast as you can into the tunnel, not worrying about the Houndoor anymore, and worrying more about your life. Soon, the rumbling stops, and you pant as you are safe from the rubble. Looking around, you see that there is not way you are going to be able to go back now. Clyde looks terrified, but soon comes out of it. "That was close. Any longer and you would have been buried under the rubble." He was right.

You lean against the wall, when you realize something else. The claw marks are gone. It must just be a coincidence, obviously you were not paying attention when you were running for your life. You hand touches the wall and feels the edge of something. You look down and see that your hand is just touching the bottom of a hole in the wall. A hole? That is odd. You forget about it before all of a sudden something rushes through the hole, and bites your arm. You scream in pain as the thing tries to drag you inside of the hole, before a Psybeam from the Mothim shoots out and hits the offender on the head, causing to retreat momentarily. You quickly move away from the wall, clutching your arm as a large bite mark is plastered on it. Whatever it was nearly took a chunk out of your arm, and you are beginning to fade. You look in the direction of the hole as the thing leaps out again, and you instantly recognize what it is. Its blue skin, with the red chest. The spikes along its legs. The single claw. The dorsal fins. There was no mistaking it. It was a Gabite. You realize how lucky you were that Clyde was there to save you, becuase otherwise, you really would have been a Gastly. And try coming back to Coselle saying you got eaten by a Gabite. "Dude, what are we going to do? My Mothim isn't a high enough level to seriously hurt than thing!"

This was a dilemma. The Gabite ROARS in the tunnel, showing its superiority, causing Hermione to faint out of fear, she wasn't going to be any help.

What will you do?

Mt. FumiOpen Plain
Charminions

Wasting no time in trying to survive the eruption of Mt. Fumi, you dash for one of the nearest caves, hoping that you will survive the eruption. Or at least not get swallowed by the burning lava. Zaire runs along with you, both of you trying to find some place that is safe and secure. The cave in front of you is the most likely place to find shelter, and more people are running into it as well. Looking up, you can see the lava pouring down the mountain, coming straight towards the Open Plain. Not good. You look ahead and see the cavern is right in front of you, and run in, clutching the walls of the cavern to make sure that you don't fall down as you come to a stop. "What are we going to do? What if the lava comes inside of the cave? We will be cooked!" There were about fifteen to twenty people inside of the cavern with you and Zaire, and they were all in a panic. Some of them had Pokemon of there own, but none of them seemed able to withstand the lava. There must be some way for you to help out...or at least try to survive.

"If my Donphan was in battle condition, I could have him block off the cave with a Rock Slide attack. It would keep us safe from the lava for sure." Just then, you see a lady darting from person to person. She was dressed in a pink nurse's robe, and a Blissey was next to her. You knew this was a Nurse Joy, and she might be able to help you guys out. You run to her, and grab her shoulder. "What is it, I'm very busy here. I'm trying to make sure everyone is safe and healthy before the lava gets here." Zaire is next to you, thinking the same thing. "Miss, we need your help. My Donphan knows the move Rock Slide, and if we have it, we can block off the entrance to the cave, sealing the lava from coming inside. But he is really injured, and doesn't have the strength to use it." Nurse Joy frowns for a moment, before jestering to the Blissey, who nods with a serious look on her face. Zaire takes out his Pokeball and releases the Donphan, and you release your Combusken. The Blissey nods and begins to glow with a faint pink light. Suddenly, the same pink light envelops the two of your Pokemon, and they get back up, ready and raring to go. As you sigh that this plan might just work, you look behind you and see a cascade of lava falling down in front of the cave.

People begin to scream as the lava begins to pour into the cave. Nurse Joy pushes everyone to the back of the cave, but, it isn't very big and soon the lava has covered about a quarter of the cave. If you don't do something now, it is going to mean certain death for everyone in the cave. "Donphan, use Rock Slide!" Zaire yells, before his Donphan bellows and begins to spin in place, various rocks being taken from the cave walls and floor and placed in front of the lava, trying to make a barricade. It does no use though, as the cave is too wide for just one Pokemon to try and blockade it. He is going to need help if he wants to keep the lava out!

What will you do?

Mt. PelePele's Cavern
gmoyes

You were surpised at the sudden reaction of Echo, leaping in and taking the Flamethrower for Theta, but that resulting in him fainting and now it was just Theta and the Arcanine facing each other off, and Theta doesn't have the Heatproof ability to back it up either. Theta looks more than determined to win this battle though, especially after Echo sacrificed himself for Theta's safety. Theta leaps fowards at the Arcanine, ready to deliver a devastating SPARK attack, but there is one problem. The walls of the cavern will absorb any electro-magnetic energy that is released, even if it is only through a physical attack! So, half of the Spark's power is diverted by the walls of the cavern, and Theta rams into Arcanine, causing it to growl in discomfort. It seems that the small tackle didn't do to much to the much large Arcanine. The Arcanine howls for a bit before releasing a Flamethrower at Theta, causing it to screech in pain from the fire attack. It was certainly going to be a losing game for Theta.

Meanwhile, Phi, knowing what it has to do, Teleports in while the fighting is happening. It locates Echo, grabs a hold of it the best it can, and Teleports out of the battle, bringing Echo back to you. You are relieved that Echo is with you now, and you place an Oran Berry in front of it. Echo wakes up from unconsciousness, and gets back up. You don't know how he did it, but the berry is gone in your hand and Echo is back in the game, although it is only a small temporary measure as Echo still wobbles a bit. That Oran berry only gave him a small lease on the battle.

Stars shoots out from Theta and crash into Arcanine, causing it to yip in pain from the attack. It seems special attacks are going to be more useful in this battle than physical attack, especially with the special walls of this cavern. Arcanine retaliates, however, and begins to charge up a powerful attack. He begins to charge up all the pain he has been given the entire battle, and swings around in a circle, using a devastating REVERSAL attack, smashing into Theta and causing it to lauch back quite a ways. Theta then tries to do a Psybeam...but realizes that it cannot learn such a move, and understands that its trainer wants it to use Psywave. It releases about three rings, and they do some decent damage to Arcanine, but not as much as if it were fresh.

Theta and Echo both are low on health, but Arcanine can be beaten if you put you mind to it. Arcanine is also beginning to tire out.

You and your Kabutops surely got the riddle alright, but it seems that you need to find a pearl for the riddle to be turly solved, and in the wasteland around here, no pearls were going to be found. You decide to walk off in a random direction, the direction your gut says will bring you to the right place.

Walking through the forest, with your Kabutops helping out of course with the foilage, you here some noises nearby. It sounds like a kid shouting at the something, like he was being attacked or something. You can't clearly hear his words though, and you wonder if he is okay. Moving through the foilage as best as you can, you wander slowly towards the voice, and you can begin to hear snippets of the conversation. "Lost to a..." "Stupid...." "You were..." Again, not quite sure what is going on, but it doesn't sound like the kid is in danger, but that he is yelling at something or at himself. You continue to pust past the dense plant life that seems bent on keeping you from the kid.

When you see the kid in a small clearing, he is standing in front of a Clamperl, who has its shell shut and is shivering, probably in fear. "You godamn stupid Clamperl! You were supposed to be the best Pokemon in the world! Shell Smash DeepSeaTooth Clamperl! The best!" He kicks the shell of the Clamperl, and despite the wieght difference, he doesn't seem to be in too much pain from hitting the shell. "And look what I got. A Pokemon that quite simply just dies to everything! A Ferroseed, a Munchlax, a Chinchou, a Stunky. Easy Pokemon to beat, and you lost to each and every one of them!" He delivers another kick to the shell. Having none of this, your Kabutops runs out and confronts the kid, who screams at the sudden sight of a Pokemon with scythes for hands. You sigh and walk out with him, and the kid glares at you. "This is your chance Clamperl, prove that you can beat the Kabutops and you can stay with me!" "Clammmmmm....." Even though the trainer was abusing it, it seems like it doesn't want to disobey its trainer and gets ready to fight.

What will you do?

After making the decision to head in this direction, Bill and Shelly were wondering around this forest trying to find a needle in a haystack...or in this case a pearl in a forest. Well, if all else fails they could always head down toward the beach and find a random Clamperl to use its pearl but what if the riddle called for a specific pearl in this forest? He'd wasted that much time for nothing. As Shelly led the way through the forest taking care of the various vines, bushes and other plant life in the way, Bill's eyes kept to the ground surrounding them, just in case they do happen to run into the pearl. However, as the duo traversed the forest, they started hearing something, it sounded like...well a voice, but it was a bit hard to make out.

Shelly looked back at her trainer to see if they should check it out. Bill nodded in agreement and after pinpointing the general direction that it was coming from, they started to approach the voice. As they got closer, the voice belonged to a kid, yelling. Was he or she in trouble? The two started to increase their speed towards the voice until they were close enough to hear some words. "Lost to a..." "Stupid...." "You were..." What the? Is this kid just ranting? At who though?

They slowed down until they found the source of the voice. It was indeed a kid, male, and...wait...is that a Clamperl? In the middle of the forest? Well, it was obviously the kid's, and it was obviously the 'who' that he was ranting to. Although, he was kicking the Clamperl as he was talking about losing to several other Pokemon. The way he was treating his Clamperl really got under Bill's skin, but it seemed Shelly was even angrier. After one last kick to the poor Bivalve Pokemon, Shelly rushed towards the trainer. Needless to say the trainer was not expecting anything of the sort and his ear-piercing scream definitely supported that.

Bill walked out, "Hold up, Shelly." The Kabutops did so, though it was still obviously angry at the other trainer. The other trainer just looked at Bill then at the Rock/Water typed Pokemon. The trainer just challenged Bill out of the blue, promising to keep the Clamperl. The Clamperl, despite being abused not two minutes ago, was ready to fight against Shelly for whatever reason.

"No," Bill said. "I'm not about to become part of your little personal issues." The trainer turned to his Pokemon and said, "Stand down, Shelly." They do need a pearl but there's more Clamperls in the sea. Bill headed back towards the woods.

You feverisly try to calm down the irate Camerupt, saying that you were sorry and that it was merely an accident. Your Elektrike and Charmander say the same thing to the Camerupt, who merely just listens on. And...it seems to have worked. It must not have wanted to fight you all that badly. Maybe it was just making a point or a showy display, but it nods and simply goes back to sleep, not worrying about the three of you anymore now that he understand the situation. He begins to snore loudly, and the three of you all sigh to yourself, thanking your stars that the Eruption Pokemon did not decide to show you the power of its Eruption. You continue to walk down the tunnel, now making more sure than ever that you watch your step now before any more Camerupt get woken up. You see a light at the end of the tunnel, wondering what it could possibly be, and continue going.

All of a sudden, you feel a large tremor shake the mountain, and you instantly freeze in fear. Mt. Ceniza is an active volcano, though no one figured that it was going to erupt anytime soon! You look behind you and see that the tunnel is collapsing behind you. Flandre cries out again and runs forwards, not wanting to be caught in the rock slide that was coming from behind her. You run as well, along with Kiba, and make it to the exit of the tunnel. You look down and see that it is at least a 20 foot drop, but there is a better chance of surviving the jump than surviving the rocks, and you jump down, along with Flandre and Kiba. You hit the ground and roll, thankfully not hurt from the fall, and see that the tunnel had completely collasped in. You get up and look around, and see that you are in a large cavern with molten lava everywhere. Thankfully you didn't land anywhere near the molten lava, being a good fifteen feet away from any of it, but it could be a problem...you didn't pack a lot of water for this journey, and being in here would dehydrate you fast.

Kiba suddenly barks behind you, causing you to spin around and see that an anteater of some sort is behind you, and it doesn't look friendly. In its hand, it has grabbed the tail of Flandre, and you realize that she fell on top of the anteater when they jumped. It looks very pissed off, and breathes a little lick of fire out of its mouth. You realize then that is a Pokemon you have heard about, the Anteater Pokemon Heatmor!

The Heatmor breathes in for a moment, before breathing out a massive pillar of flames out of its mouth at Kiba. Kiba yips and tries to jump out of the way, but is clipped by the Flamethrower, falling to the ground akwardly as the Heatmor vents out some smoke. This definetely seems like it is a tough Pokemon and it doesn't look open to negotiation.

What will you do?

To Katsura's relief, things went more smoothly then he had expected, his simple apology having succeeded in calming down the Camerupt, who proceeded to doze off again about as quickly as it had woken. He and his Pokemon couldn't help but breathe a collective sigh of relief in response. Though he had planned on turning back because of the heat, he noticed a light further down the tunnel; perhaps coming from outside of the mountain, and was convinced to proceed.

However, before he could get there, something totally unexpected occurred. The entire cavern began to shake violently, sending him and his Pokemon into a panic. It seemed as though an eruption had started somewhere in the mountains, and he knew the best option would be to get out of the cavern quickly. Unfortunately, he hadn't the slightest clue as to where the nearest exit from the tunnels was, and to make matters worse, the path behind them had started to cave in, making him grateful he hadn't decided to turn back. The only thing he could do at this point was keeping pressing onwards, something Flandre had been the quickest to realize, having gotten a headstart over him and Kiba.

At the end of tunnel was a rather large drop, but taking a bit of a fall was much preferable to being buried alive, so he took a leap of faith, his Pokemon following suit shortly after. Though his landing wasn't exactly comfortable, he was still able to move, which he was grateful for. A quick glance around him soon made it apparent to him what the source of light he had seen earlier was; molten lava. The presence of such a thing made it clear to him that they weren't getting any closer to an exit and were going even deeper into the mountain; something he was not pleased with in the slightest, for the heat was worse then ever. And then things took another unpleasant turn, as Kiba emitted a hostile bark at something behind him.

Turning around, he saw, much to his displeasure, that Flandre seemed to have again ticked off a Pokemon by falling on it. This time, it was a Heatamor, who had caught the Charmander by the tail, and it didn't seem quite as reasonable as the Camerupt, for it responded to Kiba's barking by attempting blast him with a Flamethrower, which he was fortunately nimble enough to avoid.

It seemed as though it was a Pokemon that would only listen to force; something Kiba was more then ready to dish out, growling and crackling with electricity as he faced down the anteater that was threatening his two friends. Flandre wasn't particularly pleased about her situation, either, flailing around furiously in an attempt to free herself from her captor's grasp, whilst simultaneously shouting what Katsura presumed to be insults.

"We need to take this thing down, and quickly. There's no telling if those tremors will pick up again soon...", he thought to himself briefly before issuing his battle orders:

"Kiba, first things first! Blindside it with a Quick Attack and see if you can get Flandre free. Then prepare yourself with Light Screen and Charge. As for you, Flandre, just try to hit it with Ancientpower for now."

Things had taken a turn from bad to worst, and Katsura only hoped that wouldn't escalate further...

Clyde quitely listens in on your idea of finding the Houndoor, and when you are done and Peeves goes back into his Pokeball, he speaks up for a bit. "This honestly sounds like a pretty good idea. Even a Houndoor won't be able to escape a Weedle's nose! I think anyways. I have never had a Weedle before. And even if he is not inside of this tunnel, we should be able to get back and go down the other tunnel. I still think that the right tunnel is the one we should take, but I see your point. Let's go."

You walk down the tunnel to the left, the one with the claw marks, and Hermiones quietly sniffs the air while alternating that with marking the walls of the tunnel with a String shot. It truly is a great plan. Clyde looks at the claw marks on the wall, and you notice that they go really far in. This wasn't the result of a skirmish between a Houndoor and another Pokemon. "Hey, Keith, can we stop for a moment? I am getting worn out." You agree, and lay down on the wall of the tunnel for a moment, catching your breath. This walk was a little bit more arduous that you had though as well. "I wanted to point something out as well. If you have noticed...the claw marks on the walls, they are not from a Houndoor. For one, they are too deep for a Houndour. For two, they seem to be made by just one claw. Houndoor have more than one on their feet. I don't know any Pokemon that have only one claw to fight. It seems like it would be a little bit disadvantageous." You agree with him that it was a little bit odd that the claw marks were like that, and decide to ask Hermione if she smelled the Houndoor anywhere. She shakes her head no, and you get ready to go back.

That is when the earth begins to shake. Mt. Ceniza is an active volcano, though no one is quite sure when it will erupt again. This seems to be one of its tremors, and you hold on to the wall for dear life. Clyde yells at you, "Come on! We gotta move!" and you hear a distant rumbling sound behind you. Looking behind you, you see that the tunnel is beginning to cave-in, and you run as fast as you can into the tunnel, not worrying about the Houndoor anymore, and worrying more about your life. Soon, the rumbling stops, and you pant as you are safe from the rubble. Looking around, you see that there is not way you are going to be able to go back now. Clyde looks terrified, but soon comes out of it. "That was close. Any longer and you would have been buried under the rubble." He was right.

You lean against the wall, when you realize something else. The claw marks are gone. It must just be a coincidence, obviously you were not paying attention when you were running for your life. You hand touches the wall and feels the edge of something. You look down and see that your hand is just touching the bottom of a hole in the wall. A hole? That is odd. You forget about it before all of a sudden something rushes through the hole, and bites your arm. You scream in pain as the thing tries to drag you inside of the hole, before a Psybeam from the Mothim shoots out and hits the offender on the head, causing to retreat momentarily. You quickly move away from the wall, clutching your arm as a large bite mark is plastered on it. Whatever it was nearly took a chunk out of your arm, and you are beginning to fade. You look in the direction of the hole as the thing leaps out again, and you instantly recognize what it is. Its blue skin, with the red chest. The spikes along its legs. The single claw. The dorsal fins. There was no mistaking it. It was a Gabite. You realize how lucky you were that Clyde was there to save you, becuase otherwise, you really would have been a Gastly. And try coming back to Coselle saying you got eaten by a Gabite. "Dude, what are we going to do? My Mothim isn't a high enough level to seriously hurt than thing!"

This was a dilemma. The Gabite ROARS in the tunnel, showing its superiority, causing Hermione to faint out of fear, she wasn't going to be any help.

What will you do?

They proceeded down the tunnel gouged with claw marks, Hermione sniffing at the air while marking the walls with String Shot. After a while, Clyde requested that they stop. "Sure," Keith agreed, as he was getting a little tired himself. As they caught their breath, Clyde pointed out that the claw marks in the walls were definitely not Houndour claw marks. Keith and Hermione both nodded in agreement with this statement. After it was established that whatever it was had only one claw on each limb, and after Hermione confirmed she couldn't smell the Houndour anywhere, they decided to turn back... and then the earth started shaking.

"Holy ****!" Keith exclaimed. Clyde exclaimed that they had to move, which he hadn't really needed to say. Especially as Keith noticed the tunnel was starting to cave in. Once they were safely out, Keith noticed an odd hole in the wall where they ended up once the rumbling had stopped. Then-

"OW!" Keith exclaimed as something shot out of the hole and bit his arm, trying to drag him back into the hole. The Mothim's Psybeam put a stop to that, but their problems were far from over. First, Keith's arm was very much hurt by the... whatever it was. He made a conscious effort to stay consciousm and then noticed the second part of the problems- the menacing dragon that had emerged from the hole. "Gah! A Gabite!" Keith exclaimed as he held out his Pokedex.

"Gabite, the Cave Pokemon, and the evolved form of Gible," droned the device. "Gabite loves shiny objects. It will regularly dig up gems and hoard them in its nest."

Then, the Gabite gave a great Roar, causing Hermione to pass out from sheer fright. "Arceus damn it," Keith muttered as he withdrew his Weedle. Clyde was freaked out, insisting that his Mothim wasn't high enough in level to handle this thing. "Well, I think I might have something high enough in level to handle it," Keith stated as he took out another Poke Ball. "One way to find out!" he added as he threw the ball. "Lily! Go!" he yelled as a Venomoth materialized from the ball.

"Venomoth, Venomoth," said Lily as she sized up the Gabite before him.

"Lily, use your Icy Wind!" Keith ordered. "Then hit it with a Sludge Wave, and follow up with Giga Drain!

With nothing more up your sleeve on how to find Min, you decide that the best idea is to try and look for her on your own. You remember about how Opal's Foresight saw the remains of a Crunch attack in the soil, and you decide that following that clue would be the best idea for you to take. I mean, sure, the only idea must be the best idea.

As you walk towards the Crunch mark in the ground, you suddenly come upon a realization. The Crunch attack is a Dark type attack, and even though there were quite a few dark types that learned the move and many that did not, it simply didn't add up either with the Draco Meteor. Maybe if we were to input both variables at once, it would give us the Pokemon that could have possibly taken Min. Opening your Pokedex, you quickly search for fully evolved Pokemon that learned both the moves Crunch and Draco Meteor.

If you ever needed something to shatter your hopes and dreams, this list was it. Well, you could discount some of the Pokemon anyways. It was VERY unlikely it would a Rayquaza, Reshiram, or Zekrom, seeing as they Pokemon were rarely ever seen and probably would have done more than kidnap Min. A Smeargle probably wasn't the culprit. Druddigon, Flygon, and Garchomp all were powerful Pokemon, but with low Sp. Atk stats, it was unlikely that a Draco Meteor by either of them would cause the kind of impact that Dolce found. This left two Pokemon, Hydreigon, and Salamence. Both were powerful Pokemon, on a near legendary status, and they both could learn the moves Crunch and Draco Meteor. It could have been either one of them. You would need more knowledge before you made a desicion.

Of course during this entire time you were walking and didn't notice your surroundings, and managed to bang your head up against something hard. You step back and rub your head, and look and see that you had hit some kind of large acorn. It was a Seedot. It looks startled, and falls from the tree, running off as if it had seen a ghost. You laugh for a bit at hitting your hard on the Pokemon(even if it was a LITTLE mean), but Dolce and Opal don't share your light-heartedness. You look behind you and see another Pokemon...this one not looking at all too happy. It was large red Pokemon, though it was not entirely red. It's shoulders and legs were, and so was its face and tail, but its body was striped with red and yellow, and its arms were also yellow, and looked like mortar cannons. It seems the White Flute brought out another Pokemon, a Magmortar, and it looks like walking into its territory wasn't the brightest idea....you better think of something fast, cause I AM OUTTA HERE!!!

What will you do?

((Sorry, I completely missed the point that the teeth marks on the ground were a Crunch attack, or I would have made Levin run a similar search or thought process. Also, I recalled Dolce the Swablu to let her rest and am now travelling with Dunsparce and Venonat.))

His eyes widened at the sudden realization - Min had been taken by one of two nigh-legendary dragons, and of powerful enough to devastate the peak of Mt. Infernus. The very thought of what it may have already done to his little princess makes Levin's blood run cold, but he's more determined than ever to find her now - and slay the dragon for her.

He needed to pick up the pace, and Hebi wasn't the fastest snake around. He thanked for his earlier help with Skarmory and recalled him, and urged Opal the Venonat to speed up. She tweaked her Foresight to pick up traces of any Dragon-Type Pokemon, as that would be their best bet going forward. She seemed to have picked something up, and off they went.

After a while of walking, concerned and absent-minded as he was, Levin didn't even notice the obstacle in front of him - a rather big Seedot hanging from a tree. Colliding head-first with the poor Grass-Type, the bump made him curse, before realizing what had happened. Startled, the Seedot ran away, leaving the young man to finally let out a laugh after all the worries so far. He thought back to his very first capture in Cloud Garden, a female Seedot he later named Wicca; back then, he thought it had been a miracle that the living acorn had missed him as it came crashing down from a tree. Guess this was divine retribution for that stroke of luck. Opal, in the meantime, didn't share in his laugh. She was either being her oversensitive self, worried sick about her Trainer's well being after that nasty bump, or...

She wasn't even paying attention.

- Opal, what's wrong dear? Something catch your eye?

It had indeed, and it soon caught Levin's as well. From somewhere he hadn't noticed, another Pokemon had creeped up on them; this one not the least bit scared or with intentions of running away - quite the contrary. The large Magmortar looked much more interested in picking a fight with the trespassers and make them regret the day they woke him up with a White Flute. He'd have to thank Min for that later, if both survived their respective predicaments.

Well, no way around it; he'd have to fight. Opal was out of the question, but luckily he had just the right Pokemon to take on the Fire-Type. He reached for his belt and...

- Magnus?!

A Pokeball in his belt clicked open and from it emerged the insane Magby, before Levin could even reach for the Ball he intended. With a huge, crazy grin on his face, the Baby Pokemon looked dead-set on taking on its evolutionary relative, no doubt attracted to the display of pyrotechnics they could produce together.

You mad f***.

He sighed; if he dared deny Magnus this opportunity, he'd put him through Hell later - literally. But what chance did a Magby have against a magmortar, if his best attacks would be almost harmless to another Fire-Type? Then again, Magnus did know a number of moves no wild Magmortar could ever learn on its own; maybe that gave them a fighting chance...

- Alright then, if you're sure about this... Just listen to me this time around! You can cause as much pain and torment to this guy as you want, no restrictions for once. Just... don't burn down the what little is left of this forest.

Magnus turned around with a wicked smile, contemplating whether to play along with his Trainer or not. Finally, he nodded, which was a bit of a relief. Deep down, the Magby knew he'd need help to win.

- Let's get ready then, you crazy bastard. Blast him with a Confuse Ray, then run circles around him with two consecutive Flame Charges!

You were surpised at the sudden reaction of Echo, leaping in and taking the Flamethrower for Theta, but that resulting in him fainting and now it was just Theta and the Arcanine facing each other off, and Theta doesn't have the Heatproof ability to back it up either. Theta looks more than determined to win this battle though, especially after Echo sacrificed himself for Theta's safety. Theta leaps fowards at the Arcanine, ready to deliver a devastating SPARK attack, but there is one problem. The walls of the cavern will absorb any electro-magnetic energy that is released, even if it is only through a physical attack! So, half of the Spark's power is diverted by the walls of the cavern, and Theta rams into Arcanine, causing it to growl in discomfort. It seems that the small tackle didn't do to much to the much large Arcanine. The Arcanine howls for a bit before releasing a Flamethrower at Theta, causing it to screech in pain from the fire attack. It was certainly going to be a losing game for Theta.

Meanwhile, Phi, knowing what it has to do, Teleports in while the fighting is happening. It locates Echo, grabs a hold of it the best it can, and Teleports out of the battle, bringing Echo back to you. You are relieved that Echo is with you now, and you place an Oran Berry in front of it. Echo wakes up from unconsciousness, and gets back up. You don't know how he did it, but the berry is gone in your hand and Echo is back in the game, although it is only a small temporary measure as Echo still wobbles a bit. That Oran berry only gave him a small lease on the battle.

Stars shoots out from Theta and crash into Arcanine, causing it to yip in pain from the attack. It seems special attacks are going to be more useful in this battle than physical attack, especially with the special walls of this cavern. Arcanine retaliates, however, and begins to charge up a powerful attack. He begins to charge up all the pain he has been given the entire battle, and swings around in a circle, using a devastating REVERSAL attack, smashing into Theta and causing it to lauch back quite a ways. Theta then tries to do a Psybeam...but realizes that it cannot learn such a move, and understands that its trainer wants it to use Psywave. It releases about three rings, and they do some decent damage to Arcanine, but not as much as if it were fresh.

Theta and Echo both are low on health, but Arcanine can be beaten if you put you mind to it. Arcanine is also beginning to tire out.

What will you do?

Alex breathed a sigh of relief as Phi blinked out of sight. Whatever interference that was messing up Theta’s electric typed attacks didn’t affect the psychic type’s Teleport. He made a note to himself that the energy used in teleportation wasn’t electromagnetic. At least, not for the Abra line.

He looked back at the camera just in time to see his Magnemite ram into the Arcanine with its ‘not-so-Spark’ attack. He grimaced, he had hoped that the electrical charge would stay around Theta until it completed the attack, but it seemed that the interference was too strong. The most likely chance of doing an electric attack was directly pumping the electricity into the Arcanine’s body. He thought about the situation and chuckled that using the term ‘electrical charge’ in terms of the move Spark was a good pun. But the grin was wiped from his face as he saw Theta take a point-blank Flamethrower. There was no way that Theta was going to last as long as Echo did.

Just then Phi reappeared in front of him holding onto the fallen Echo. Alex quickly went over to them and propped the bronze mirror Pokémon up and held up the Oran berry to its front. “Please work…” he muttered, followed by, “damn you’re heavy.” Fortunately Echo managed to rouse itself and he noticed that the small blue berry was gone. “How the heck did that work?” he muttered, then shook his head and focused back on the Bronzor. “Hey Echo, are you ok? Theta’s still back there fighting.” He looked back at the computer screen to see the magnet Pokémon shooting off a stream of stars that buffeted the fire type. However, right after that the Arcanine seemed to store up a lot of energy, then smash into the electric type in a devastating attack. Alex and Echo exchanged worried looks, but they were relieved to see the Magnemite still in the fight. Theta managed to shoot off a couple rings of psychic energy, but at this point it seemed hopeless.

Alex had to think. He had three Pokémon, one currently fighting the Arcanine that had a type disadvantage, low health and an arena disadvantage, one out here with himself that was also low on health and had the only move super effective against fire, and a third that was also out here with him and must have been running low on energy after using teleport twice in a row and was less experienced than the other two. He had to figure out how to use everyone effectively to take down this beast. The most obvious thing was to get Echo and Phi back in there. And appearing out of nowhere would certainly surprise the Arcanine. As much as he hated to admit it, Phi was the only one who could afford to take a hit, which would probably lead him to shielding the other two. His steel types would have to stay back and try hitting from afar. The pieces fit together and Alex hoped that the plan would work.

“Theta, use Metal Sound to distract it. While you’re doing that, Phi can take Echo and Teleport right on top of it. Immediately smash it with a Drain Punch and Echo, you hit it with an Ancient Power. Then both of you retreat towards Theta while it provides you with covering fire by using Swift. When you get there, Phi, get ready to intercept any attacks headed toward you guys and Echo, hit it with an Extrasensory. Let’s do this guys.”

Receiving a bobbing nod from Echo, a telepathic yes from Phi and an electronic tone from Theta, the trio put their trainer’s plan into action.